


We Seemed Like a Good Idea

by catmig



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Eventual Romance, F/F, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-15 21:02:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 33,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16071278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catmig/pseuds/catmig
Summary: When we remember, by definition, we are putting things back together. It seemed harmless, but she was never more wrong. Arizona remembers and reflects back on the tumultuous two year relationship that her and her best friend, turned friends with benefits, were a part of that led to heartbreak, confusion, pain, and living a chaotic life in Chicago by herself. AU. Calzona in their twenties.





	1. Battlefield

**Author's Note:**

> So I started this story years ago on ff.net with a different fandom and I stopped halfway through after losing motivation. But I recently started rewatching Greys and seeing the calzona rollercoaster made me want to revisit this. I reworked it a bit and we'll see where this new version leads me!

_ It's easy to fall in love _

_ But it's so hard to break somebody's heart _

_ What seemed like a good idea has turned into a battlefield _

_ Once lust has turned to dust and all that's left's held breath _

_ Forgotten who we first met _

_ What seemed like a good idea has turned into a battlefield _

 

People always say that the past should just stay in the past. It's a hell of a lot easier to move on from something when the past stays far far away. Out of sight out of mind. Any other cliche about moving on you could think of. And wouldn't that be perfect? Wouldn't that be nice if that is how life worked? How convenient would that be: if every single action we made, every single word we spoke, did not come back to haunt us in our present lives. If every single sad break up song didn't make you so very aware of every little crack in your heart currently. Every "what if" doesn't eventually rear its ugly head. Every sound of laughter, touches, stolen glances, winks doesn't creep it's way back into your memory. It all has a way of sneaking right into the present. The past  _ should _ stay in the past. See, by definition, the word "remember" is the opposite of "dismember". When we dismember something, we tear it apart, piece by piece. But when we remember: we are putting things together, putting things back in place. So even though we want to bury our past lives deep in some closet in outer space, sometimes when we remember it's a way of putting things back together.

When your past, and the choices and decisions you made, is what brought you to where you are today…should you really keep it that far away and ignore it? Or should you look at it and remember it...putting everything back together to its rightful place?

/

Arizona could reach into her pocket and hit next on her iPod. That's what she should do. But her iPod is in her winter coat pocket and she has her heavy gloves on: it's too much effort. Sure, that's a good excuse to listen to yet another sad song and getting lost in her thoughts.

She's sitting on the L on her way back to her apartment after class. Arizona has lived in Chicago for six months and it feels like the most she's done is memorize the red line stops on her daily commute. Between graduate school classes, her internship, and her job at the group home that helps her pay her rent- her life is pretty much spent going from one job to another on public transit. Arizona likes her time on the L though. It's her chance to do her favorite activity: people watch. She also gets to re-energize and zone out, playing her iPod and drifting off in her head. On the train she doesn't think about grad school, her work with the kids at the group home, or work to do for her internship at the agency.

Every now and then her iPod fails her and will go to one of the many sad songs on her playlists and her mind will drift somewhere very specific. Someone very specific. Instead of hitting next, Arizona leans her head against the window, looking at the city as it passes her by, and lets her mind stay on that someone for a while.

"This is Sheridan." The voice muffled through her headphones announces; Arizona jumps up from her seat and waits for the train doors to open. It's February in Chicago and absolutely freezing. Before she moved here she had only visited the city in the spring time and the summer. It was absolutely gorgeous then. Despite everyone's warnings about the brutal Chicago winters, she never really expected it to be  _ this _ cold. The doors open and immediately she is hit with the chill. She shoves her hands into her pockets and dips her head down to nuzzle her face into her scarf for extra warmth.

It's 6 p.m. and all Arizona can think of, as she takes hurried long strides from the train stop to her apartment, is how excited she is to change into sweatpants and watch Netflix before passing out. It's moments and thoughts like this that Arizona has to remind herself that she is actually 24 years old, and not 42 years old. It's a Friday night for God's sake. But her legs are tired and her brain feels like mush after a long class discussion on mental illness. She wants chips and sweats and a sad movie. Oh, and some tea. That sounds like heaven. A flash of a thought crosses her mind and she wonders what that someone she was thinking about on the train is doing this weekend.  _ Probably something fun. Probably out with friends, like a normal 24 year old. _

As she approaches her block, yet another sad song comes on her iPod. Arizona inhales sharply, from the cold, and the melancholy sound of the piano notes. She hurries up the steps and pulls out her keys, fumbling with them due to her gloves. She eventually gets inside the warm building and is very grateful that she lives on the ground floor. Once in her apartment she kicks off her boots and throws her keys on a nearby table.

All of the lights are off, and she quickly figures that none of her roommates are home. As she makes her way to her small bedroom down the long hallway, she begins to shed her many layers of scarves, hat, and extra sweaters. When she gets to the confines of her own room, she closes the door and collapses on the bed. The music is still playing through her headphones, and she lets the exhaustion wash over her body

/

" _ Please…Please just…I can't lose you in my life. You don't know what you mean to me," Arizona begged in the receiver of her cell phone. Tears running down her phone face, and her nose becoming runny. _

" _ You're not. You're not losing me. I'm your friend." The voice on the other end says quietly, calmly. _

" _ You know that's not what I mean," Arizona finds the strength to say. Her voice still restricted through sobs. _

_ / _

Arizona rolls over and unlocks her cell phone. She opens up the Facebook app and types up a familiar name in the search section. It's almost like her fingers are on autopilot as they type and click the familiar buttons. A face that Arizona knows all too well pops up in the profile picture. There's a new picture that has been uploaded that day, one face sticks out among the familiar group of friends, all happy. Arizona stares at the one face in the middle, trying to commit every feature and detail to memory.

/

_ Hands are entwined with hers, pulling her up the stairs. A huge smile is spread across Arizona’s lips as she is frantically being pulled. Once at the top of the staircase she is turned around and pushed into the hallway wall, another pair of lips instantly connected to hers. Hands are on her waist pulling her further into the other body. Arizona wraps her arms around the other girl's neck, never breaking contact. _

" _ Mmm" Arizona manages to get out in between kisses. A tongue pushes against her lips and she immediately grants access. She is backed up down the hall and pushed into her bedroom, the other kisser not even bothering to close the door behind them. _

" _ Your friends are right downstairs," Arizona manages to get out as she is seated at the edge of her bed. A smile is still plastered on her face despite the nervousness of being caught running through her body. _

" _ So?" The other girl in the room is now in Arizona’s lap, straddling her, and their lips are back on each other's, hands roaming each others bodies. As the kiss continues, Arizona wonders if she will ever stop smiling like this. _

_ / _

Deep breaths in. Deep breaths out.

Arizona closes out of Facebook on her phone and throws the device down on her bed. There is a familiar ache in her chest and stomach. She raises her hand from her side and that familiar shaky feeling is there. She looks closely at her hands to see if they are actually shaking. When she notices a small tremor she closes them into fists several times to make them stop.

/

" _ So…" Arizona draws out, as her eyes go between the drink in front of her and to the girl across from her at the table. Arizona is nervously wringing her napkin to preoccupy her shaky hands, and possibly dry them from the inevitable sweat that is seeping from them. "What's new?" Her voice comes out more nervous than she intended. _

" _ Nothing really," The response from the other girl is short, disinterested. There's an ache in Arizona’s stomach, and when she releases her intense grip on her napkin, she can feel them shaking slightly in her lap. Silence hits the table, and Arizona goes back to staring at the drink in front of her wracking her brain to think of a question, a sentence, anything. Anything to prevent her from losing her grip on this. But she can't. So, instead, she grips as tightly as she can to her napkin again. _

_ / _

Arizona’s stomach rumbles and she knows she should make herself something to eat. But she's tired and cooking a whole meal for herself seems silly. Instead she rolls over again and closes her heavy eyes.

/

_ Arizona’s stomach hurts from laughing so much. The girl across from her is talking a mile a minute, telling a story about her childhood. The girl's eyes light up and her hands are flying animatedly through the air as she speaks. Arizona isn't even sure what the point of the story is, but both girls are so caught up in their laughter that it doesn't matter. All she wants is to spend forever hearing every single story from the girl in front of her, and hearing the sounds of their laughter mixed together. _

_ / _

Arizona reaches for her phone again and opens up her texts. The last message she received was from one of her roommates a few days ago, asking about the broken dishwasher. She opens her recent calls and sees that the only person she has called in a month has been her mom. Pathetic.

/

" _ The funniest thing happened at the school today," Arizona rattles on to the voice on the other end of the phone. She waits for a response before she continues. A few beats pass before she finally gets a distracted response. _

" _ What happened?" The voice is disinterested. Arizona sighs, frustrated, expecting more excitement. _

" _ Well, if you don't want to hear it…" Arizona trails off, annoyed. _

" _ Arizona." The name is stated so forcefully that it makes Arizona’s chest hurt. "Obviously I care. Am I not on the phone with you? Did I not call you today after you told me you wanted to talk? So, yes I care." The sentences are said out of annoyance, and frustration. Arizona can feel her own anger rise. _

" _ Well, you just sound-" She can't get her sentence out, before she is cut off. _

" _ How do I sound? I'm listening. Just tell the story already," there is a loud sigh on the other end of the phone. And Arizona wonders how this is what has become of their conversations, and she can't even remember the story she wanted to tell anymore. _

" _ Forget it," she says dejectedly. _

" _ Fine," the other voice responds, distracted again. "Look, I gotta go. I'll talk to you later." _

" _ Oh, okay…love you." Arizona lets out hopefully, almost pleadingly. _

" _ Bye." _

_ Arizona sees the call is disconnected and she squeezes her phone in her hand before throwing it across the room angrily. _

_ / _

Arizona finally sits up in her bed and decides to change into her sweatpants, something that she has been craving for hours. She pulls her large purple NYU sweatshirt over her head, and her old camp sweatpants, feeling extra warm and comfy. She walks out of her bedroom and right into the kitchen; conveniently located right outside of her bedroom. She still doesn't feel like actually cooking something, so she grabs a bag of chips and some salsa, which she pours into a bowl and goes down the hallway toward the living room. She pulls a blanket over her lap, opens up her iPad and thinks about what she wants to watch on Netflix. She cuddles into a pillow next to her, pulling the blankets up as far as they can go to warm herself up.

/

" _ Your feet are cold," Arizona giggles, and the arms around her waist pull her further into them. _

" _ So are yours," the girl's voice from behind Arizona whispers into her ear and nuzzles into her neck. Their legs are intertwined under the blankets. The girl's arms tighten around Arizona and she feels small kisses on her neck. One of the hands wrapped around her waist creeps up slowly up her shirt, sending a shiver down Arizona’s spine. The girl's hand rubs small circles on Arizona’s skin, just above her hip bone. "Good thing we can warm each other up, right?" The voice husks into Arizona’s ear. Arizona squeezes one of the arms around her waist and leans back impossibly closer to the girl behind her. _

_ Arizona sighs, and closes her eyes, feeling that in that moment this is what people mean when they say they are in love. This is that feeling she had been missing out on for all these years. She thought it was some impossible, unreachable goal. But really, it was so easy to fall in love. Especially, with the girl who was holding her so tightly and protectively. _

_ / _

Arizona rolls over on her side, not really paying attention to the Breaking Bad episode she decided to watch. She thought that she would watch a romantic comedy, but right now she wants to watch people kill each other, and do meth. That's what kind of mood she ended up in. Before she knew it the exhaustion of the day finally was taking over and she was drifting off to sleep; a bag of chips on the ground next to her, an iPad in her lap, and hugging a pillow to her as tightly as she could.

/

_ The car ride into the city was quiet. Other than a hug outside of the airport, after Arizona had loaded the other girl's car (which seemed pretty forced to Arizona) there hadn't been much talking in the car. The other girl was driving, and focusing on the roads, not looking in Arizona’s direction at all. Meanwhile, Arizona was looking out the window. It was raining and completely grey outside. In the distance she could see bits and pieces of the New York skyline from the turnpike, through the clouds and rain. She felt like she was going to be sick. A few times on the drive she wanted to ask the girl driving to pull over so she could throw up. Instead, she just took deep breaths and looked out the window. 'At least she picked you up from the airport.' Arizona thought to herself, wistfully. _

_ The other girl switched the radio stations and quietly sung along. Arizona glanced back over at her. Everything in her body hurt, just looking at her. She wondered if the other girl was hurting. The other girl seemed so happy, so confident. Arizona quickly realized that the other girl was definitely not hurting as much as she was. She went to go back to looking out her window when her thoughts were interrupted, "So excited to be home for the summer?" _

" _ Yeah," Arizona said quietly, trying to pick her words carefully. "It'll be nice to see some people before I move to Chicago." _

" _ Cool," the other girl said, while nodding. Arizona wasn't sure what she wanted the other girl to say. But she wanted something more than cool. She wanted more than a forced hug at the airport. She wanted anything more than awkward silence in the car. But she wouldn't say that. Instead she let the realization hit her, like a ton of bricks: that this is what they had become. This is what it would be like between the two of them now. _

" _ Yeah, cool," Arizona couldn't help herself from scoffing ever so slightly. She knew the other girl had noticed, but didn't care anymore. She leaned her head against the glass, as the rain trickled down the outside. She closed her eyes and felt a tight compressed pain in her chest. She wanted to open the window and throw up. Sweat was dripping from her hands, and she thought that she was going to start sobbing right on the spot, because it was hard for her to swallow due to the tightening in her chest and throat. _

_ She took a deep breath in and wondered if this is what a break up felt like. Sure, there never was nothing official to break up from, but it definitely felt like something inside of her was breaking, shattering, to bits and pieces. She looked over at the other girl again, eyes on the road, smiling with her dimples at the upbeat song on the radio. Her chest tightened, and she knew, this was what getting her heart broken felt like. Right in this moment. This is what losing everything you ever cared about feels like. _

_ / _

_ Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. _

Arizona sat up at the sound of the buzzing. She looked around her, confused for a second about her surroundings, and the light streaming in through the windows. She fell asleep on the couch and it was now sometime during the next day. She looked around for her phone and realized that she left it in her bedroom at some point.

_ Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. _

The sound was coming from the intercom. Usually it was her roommate's boyfriend that would be outside asking to be let in, or it was one of the neighbors who forgot the key. One time somebody buzzed for Arizona, but it was a Thai food delivery man, so she wasn't sure that entirely counted. Arizona rubbed her eyes, still trying to adjust to the light.

_ Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. _

Usually her roommate's boyfriend would have just called a cell phone by that point, or the neighbors would try a different buzzer. She wasn't even sure if her roommates were even back at this point. They would have at least woken her up when they came home at whatever time they got back.  _ Maybe they'll just go away. _ But her thoughts were interrupted by yet another buzzing at the intercom. "Jesus Christ," Arizona muttered as she jumped up off the couch and went to go hit the intercom button forcefully. She went to go walk back to collect her blankets and go back to sleep in her bedroom and there was a quiet, gentle knocking at the door. Arizona turned around, surprised, but assuming one of her roommates had just forgotten their keys. She walked back toward the door, pulled the hood up on her sweatshirt to cover her bedhead, and unlocked the deadbolt, swinging the door open. Arizona’s breathing stopped, and she could feel her heartbeat in every single one of her pulse points. She stared at the sight in front of her: a Latina girl with slightly tan skinned, hair up in a ponytail, heavy winter jacket on, and clutching a small duffle bag.

/

" _ Okay Arizona, she should be here any minute," her friend said excitedly, as they sat in the New York Starbucks. "I think you two will really get along." Arizona just nodded, looking around the coffee shop, people watching the local New Yorkers. She was a little nervous, as she was meeting her future roommate today. It felt like a blind date, since her friend was orchestrating the whole thing, and the thought of that made Arizona laugh a little to herself. Arizona and her friend needed another roommate for their loft, and her friend found someone through her school. Arizona trusted her friend, so she knew she shouldn't be nervous, but she still was. People watching had always calmed her down, so she just looked around at the people reading, talking on their cell phones, and a pair of old friends at a table catching up with each other. "Oh, Arizona!" Her friend exclaimed, snapping her from her people watching. "She just walked in!" Arizona turned her head from her friend and saw a Latina girl, with long hair, wearing a v-neck and jeans stroll into the Starbucks. Arizona stood up and wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans hurriedly. The Latina girl approached the table once she spotted Arizona’s friend and the two hugged briefly. Their mutual friend then stepped aside, and Arizona held out her friend. _

" _ Hey, I'm Arizona," she said politely, holding out her hand. _

" _ Hey," the Latina took her hand and smiled warmly at her. Her dimples showing as she smiled. "I'm Arizona." _

_ / _

Arizona continued to stare at the girl in front of her. A familiar feeling of nausea seeped into her stomach, and she briefly thought she was going to throw up right on the spot. The other girl held her gaze though, and the two just stared at each other. Arizona inhaled sharply, realizing she had forgotten to breathe after she opened the door. The two continued to stare at each other, and Arizona was unsure of how long they had been standing at her doorway. Finally, just above a whisper, she was able to get out one word.

"Calliope?"


	2. The Scientist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two and a half years earlier...

_ Oh take me back to the start… _

 

2 and a half years earlier…

 

August 2011

Arizona and her high school best friend, Teddy, were walking together, arm in arm, down the crowded New York City streets on a gorgeous summer day. Arizona and Teddy had moved in together into a loft in Brooklyn starting their senior year. However, once their third roommate, Alex, got an increase in his income and decided to move out; the two girls were left to their own defenses trying to find someone to take over. Arizona, Teddy, and Alex all went to the same high school and were all close friends. When they all decided to go to college in New York they were thrilled that they could hang out all the time. Of course it wasn't always that easy. Alex and Teddy both went to Columbia, but had different groups of friends and interests so they didn't always see each other all the time. Meanwhile, Arizona went to school at NYU where she was studying Sociology, but always finding time to volunteer. Arizona met an entirely different cast of characters at school, and loved every minute of it, becoming quite the social butterfly. Despite their differing schedules, and different friend groups, the trio always made time for each other. Arizona would always invite Alex and Teddy to NYU parties and vice versa. They made friends with each other's school friends, and supported each other through four years of crazy college life.

After three years of dorm life and weird roommate experiences, the three decided to all move in together. Brooklyn wasn't exactly ideal for any of them, given the distance from their schools, but it was a trendy neighborhood and cheap. They all were already really close, and were worried that living together might ruin their friendship. The opposite was true. They ended up getting even closer than they started. When they all graduated from their respective programs there was a fear of what the future would bring. Teddy was going to be definitely staying in the city to pursue her dreams of being a lawyer, Alex wanted to stay as well, but wasn't sure what field he would be getting into, and Arizona was the wild card. She loved New York, but still wanted to see the rest of the world. She also wasn't sure what exactly she wanted to do with her life. She majored in Sociology and loved her classes so much, but she wasn't sure what she could exactly do with her degree. When graduation rolled around, she decided she would take a year off, volunteering and working at restaurants to make ends meet, and then decide what she actually wanted to do with her life. Towards the end of the summer Alex decided that, although he loved his lady friends to death, he wanted to find his own place and get some privacy for a change. This decision may or may not have something to do with the fiftieth conversation on menstrual cycles that he had to sit through. 

That has led the girls to this: finding a new roommate. It took a lot of time and energy from both Arizona and Teddy to check with all of their respective friends from college and co-workers on if anyone was looking for a place. Finally, Teddy received an email from a girl in one of her classes at Columbia that she had gotten to know a little bit over the last few years. Teddy spoke highly of her talent, which says something coming from Teddy, so Arizona agreed to meet her and see if she would be cool with having her replace Alex. Arizona was pretty desperate to find someone at this point, so she didn't fully care. She always managed to get along with anyone she met anyway, but she also knew that she, Alex, and Teddy had had a great dynamic and that this new situation would be completely different. She also knew some of Teddy and Alex’s classmates, and while she thought they all were nice enough, and enjoyed the company of several of them, they were a different breed of weird. However, the way that Teddy went on about this girl that they were meeting was different. She didn't seem like a stereotypical Columbia stuck up student, and, once again, Arizona and Teddy were getting pretty desperate at this point. As long as she wasn't the Craigslist killer, Arizona would be happy.

"So which Starbucks are we meeting at?" Arizona asked as Teddy led them down another street, still arm and arm.

"The one on Columbus," Teddy said as she looked both ways before crossing the street. They were jaywalking, but both girls quickly discovered that that was what real New Yorkers did.

"There's like 5 on Columbus," Arizona said rolling her eyes. Teddy just sighed and pulled her down Columbus. They passed three different Starbucks' as they walked down the street and Arizona was amusing herself as they passed each one asking "Is this the one?" "What about this one?" Teddy just rolled her eyes each time, but did manage to chuckle whenever they passed a Starbucks, finding the stereotype of a Starbucks on every corner in Manhattan quite true.

Finally, they arrived at their destination and they found a table in the corner of the coffee shop. "Why did we have to come all the way to Manhattan anyway?" Arizona asked as she sat at the table, and Teddy took a seat across from.

"You certainly are whiney today," Teddy commented as she pulled out her phone from her purse. Arizona went to defend herself, but Teddy continued. "We're early. She said she'd be here at 1:30; we have a few minutes to kill. Do you want something to drink?"

"Are you buying?" Arizona asked raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah, what do you want?" Teddy said, standing up and grabbing her wallet from her purse.

"My usual," Arizona said smiling. Teddy laughed a little bit as she started to walk away. "And I'm not whiney!" Arizona called after her.

"Now you're not!" Teddy called over her shoulder, as she headed to the register. Arizona laughed, and pulled her phone out of her pocket looking through her different Facebook and Twitter feeds idly. A few minutes later her venti iced latte was placed in front of her, and she instantly smiled and took it into her hands happily.

"Thanks Teddy, you're the best," she said taking a sip and sighing in content.

"I know," Teddy laughed, and took her seat again. A comfortable silence fell over the pair. That was the thing with being friends with someone as long as they had. They didn't need to always be making small chat. Teddy was quite the talker, and Arizona was really sociable, but when they were together they didn't always feel the need to talk nonstop. "Alex just texted me," Teddy looked up from her phone and showed it to Arizona.

**Alex:** Are you chicks still up for going to that new beer garden this weekend?

"Yes!" Arizona exclaimed when she read it. Teddy took her phone back and texted the reply. "I miss Alex," Arizona said with a pout.

"We just had him over for dinner two nights ago," Teddy laughed.

"I know, but it's not the same," Arizona sighed, and Teddy nodded in agreement. "New-Alex better be cool with us talking about him all the time and still having him over all the time."

"Maybe you shouldn't call her ‘New-Alex’. That might help the situation a little bit," Teddy said with a smile and taking a sip of her drink.

"She's got big, stinky shoes to fill," Arizona responded. "Just saying." Teddy chuckled a little bit, and went back to her phone. Arizona put her phone down and looked out the window, at all the people walking on the street. There were all kinds of people out today since it was such a beautiful summer day.

"Okay Arizona, she should be here any minute," Teddy said excitedly. "I think you two will really get along." Arizona just nodded, looking around the coffee shop, people watching the local New Yorkers. She was a little nervous, for some reason. It felt like a blind date, a weird, Teddy-orchestrated third wheel date. People watching had always calmed Arizona down, so she just looked around at the people reading, talking on their cell phones, and a pair of old friends at a table catching up with each other. "Oh, Arizona!" Teddy exclaimed, snapping her from her people watching, and Teddy turning to face the door. "She just walked in!" Arizona turned her head from her friend and saw a Latina girl, with long hair, wearing a v-neck and jeans stroll into the Starbucks. Arizona stood up and wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans hurriedly. The Latina girl approached the table once she spotted Teddy and the two hugged briefly, saying a quick hi to each other. Teddy then stepped aside, and Arizona held out her hand to the other girl.

"Hey, I'm Arizona," she said politely, holding out her hand. Her dimples showing as she smiled

"Hey," the Latina took her hand and smiled warmly at her.  "I'm Callie."

"Super nice to meet you!" Arizona said with a smile back.  _ Super nice? Who says that? Great first impression. _ Teddy rolled her eyes a little bit, used to Arizona’s tendencies to say weird things at weird times. Callie just laughed and smiled at Arizona.

"Super nice to meet you too," She laughed. "Teddy has told me a lot about you." Arizona immediately shot Teddy a look, and she just shrugged in return. The three then took their seats. Arizona, now a lot less nervous, took a moment to take in Callie. She was really pretty. Her skin had the dark complexion, but she also had a little bit of a summer glow. She was just wearing jeans and a v-neck, but she pulled it off effortlessly. She had warmth in her brown eyes that almost made them twinkle a little bit when she smiled. She also had a beautiful smile. Arizona always loved people with good smiles. Finally, Arizona realized she had probably been staring, and had no idea what Callie and Teddy were talking about so she tried to focus and see what they were talking about. "Yeah that class was killer for me too," Callie said nodding to Teddy.  _ Oh phew, just Columbia.  _ "So what do you do Arizona?" Callie asked turning her attention to Arizona.

"Uhmm," Arizona hesitated, not sure why the question caught her off guard. "Well, right now I'm just teaching some after school classes for kids in Brooklyn."

"Teddy told me you worked with kids! I'm jealous, I love kids," she laughed.

"Well, if you ever miss them too much you could come by the center," Arizona went on. "They love new people! Teddy is always too busy though.”

"I’ve gone once" Teddy said quietly. Callie just laughed at the pair.

"Maybe I'll take you up on that," Callie said. "What kind of subjects do you teach?"

"Little bit of everything," Arizona said, taking a sip of her latte. "Reading, history, sometimes just teaching them some basic manners…”

"Is that what you want to do?" Callie asked, genuinely interested. "Like, career wise?" Teddy raised her eyes at Arizona; knowing that she gets asked this question all the time and sometimes she just ignores the question all together, as she doesn't like to think too much about her future.

"Nah," Arizona shook her head. "Not sure I’m a great teacher. It’s a lot harder than people think," Arizona added the last part quickly. "I just want something a little different for myself. Not sure what yet." Arizona shrugged. Callie nodded understanding.

"That's really cool though. No rush to figure your life out just yet," Callie smiled warmly at her. Arizona smiled back, a little shyly and could feel herself brighten up. She usually stressed out easily when thinking about her future, especially after she graduated. Usually, people wanted a definite answer with what exactly she was doing with her life. It was nice to meet someone who was understanding about it and not adding any additional pressure.

"So what do you do?" Arizona asked. Callie laughed a little bit and ran a hand through her hair.

"Still figuring that out as well," she said. "Currently just waitressing," she shrugged a little bit, and Teddy nodded sympathetically. "Hopefully going to get some performing gigs soon. We'll see. No rush to do much of anything."

"So you're a singer?" Arizona asked, and Teddy nodded.

"She's super good." Callie immediately blushed and fidgeted with her hands that were folded on the table.

"I don't suck," Callie laughed, but didn't add anything else.

"I'm sure you're great," Arizona added cheerily. "Teddy’s praise doesn't come often," she laughed. Teddy just scoffed across the table.

"I just am honest with my criticism," she stated. "Anyway…" Teddy dragged out as she tried to change the subject. "Arizona and I are basically just looking for someone to take over the lease for our old roommate, Alex." Arizona nodded along with Teddy, and Callie followed along. "We're pretty desperate, and I know you said you really needed a place as soon as possible, right?"

"Yeah," Callie nodded. "The current lease on my place is up this weekend, and I don't really want to have to move all of my stuff into my friend's place, while I'm couch surfing, to only have to move again." Arizona and Teddy nodded.

"Understandable," Arizona said while nodding a taking a long sip of her latte. She was never very good at logistical stuff, so she knew to just let Teddy take the lead on all of that.

"Well, I wanted Arizona to meet you first, before I gave you a yes or anything," Teddy said. "But if you want to check the place out sometime tomorrow, before this weekend. That way you can see if you even like it."

"You'll love it," Arizona interjected, and Callie turned a smiled at her. "Not to brag, but our place is pretty awesome." Callie just smiled at her before Teddy got her attention again.

"It is," Teddy agreed. "But you should still take a look before you make a decision." Callie nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, that would be smart," She said with a small laugh. "I'm free tomorrow night after my shift, if that works for you guys?" Callie looked between Arizona and Teddy.

"I'll be at the library," Teddy sighed. She was studying for the LSAT constantly currently. "But Arizona, you're not working tomorrow, right?" Arizona’s head shot up from her drink, and she swallowed quickly, shaking her head, coughing a little bit as she choked a bit on her latte. Callie laughed a little bit at the choke.

"No, I'm free," Arizona finally got out. "You can come by whenever." Arizona smiled at her and was a little bit excited. Callie was really easy to talk to, and she felt so relaxed around her, she couldn't help but feel relieved that she already was getting along with her future roommate. Well, possible future roommate.

"Great!" Callie said happily. "I'll stop by tomorrow then!"

The three sat there together for a little while longer, all making some small talk, and getting to know each other a little bit more. Teddy and Callie talked about some of their classmates that they both knew, finding out what everyone was up to since graduation. Arizona usually got easily bored with Columbia gossip, but Callie had funny little comments about a lot of the people, and it kept her really amused with the conversation. "Donkey Face, what a douche that guy was," she said at one point, causing both Teddy and Arizona to burst out laughing at the description. Eventually, they all decided to head out. Teddy gave Callie a big hug.

"I hope you like the place when you see it tomorrow," Teddy said excitedly. "I think you'd fit right in with me and Arizona," she said glancing over to Arizona, who nodded along. Callie then opened her arms to Arizona for a hug, and Arizona gladly accepted giving her a small hug, immediately taking in just how nice Callie smelled. She never really noticed other people's scent before, but Callie smelled great. Suddenly realizing that was a little creepy she pulled back from the hug, and Callie smiled at her.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow Arizona," she said pulling her purse over her shoulder. She couldn't help but think that her name sounded so natural coming from Callies mouth.

"Definitely," Arizona responded. "I can't wait!" The trio pushed their chairs in and all headed outside. Callie started heading in the opposite direction of Arizona and Teddy and she waved to them as she turned around the corner.

"Soooo…" Teddy said, linking her arms with Arizona as they started to walk back to the subway. "How did you like ‘New-Alex’?" Arizona laughed at the name she used earlier. "Will she be able to fill his stinky shoes?"

"Never," Arizona stated and Teddy looked up a little confused. Arizona finally went on after a dramatic pause, "No one could stink like him," Teddy laughed, and then Arizona continued. "I think she'd make a good New-Alex."

/

The next night Arizona was lying on her couch watching an episode of Gilmore Girls, when her phone started ringing. She picked up her phone and smiled when she saw the name on the screen:  **Callie** .

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey Arizona it's Callie."

"Hey there," Arizona answered happily.

"I think I'm outside your place."

"Oh, great!" Arizona jumped up from the couch and hit pause on the remote. "I'll buzz you in. We're on the 5th floor." She then went over to the intercom and hit the buzzer to let Callie in.

"Great, thanks. I'll see you in a bit!" Callie then hung up. Arizona turned around to look at the state of her apartment. Teddy made sure she cleaned everything up to make sure it was presentable before she left for the library. Seeing everything looked tidy, she then ran a finger through her blonde hair to fix it up a bit. She then walked to her door and opened it up peering around the corner and waiting for the elevator to show up. She heard the ding a minute later and she stepped out of her apartment and leaned against the wall. Callie stepped out of the elevator and Arizona’s breath hitched immediately. She had on a short black pencil skirt, and a black short sleeved blouse. Her legs were extremely toned, and the heels she was wearing accentuated the whole outfit.  _ Woah _ . "Hey!" Callie exclaimed as she spotted Arizona and started walking towards her. Arizona cleared her throat and stood up straight.

"Hey!" Arizona smiled and gave Callie a quick hug, thankful that the Latina appeared to be a hugger as well. "Did you have a hot date or something?" Arizona asked, raising her eyebrows, giving Callie the once over when she pulled away. Callie laughed and ducked her head, a little embarrassed.

"I wish," she sighed, tucking some hair behind her ear. "No, just got off of work. Fancy restaurant." Arizona nodded her head and then invited her inside to the apartment, holding the door open for her.

"Fancy waitresses first, madam," she said jokingly as she held the door. Callie laughed and stepped inside the apartment.

"Oh my God!" Callie immediately exclaimed.

"Yeah, it's pretty nice."

"Is that Gilmore Girls?!" Callie responded. Arizona laughed; impressed that Callie could pick that out right away, and didn't even say anything about the large loft.

"It is, that is my exciting Thursday night date," Arizona said with a small laugh. Callie was beaming.

"That is like, my favorite show, you don't even understand." Callie was totally geeking out, and Arizona loved it. "I don't even need to see the rest of the place, I'm done," she laughed. Then turned to finally look at the large loft. Other than the kitchen, everything was huge. Teddy, Alex, and Arizona lucked out and got a huge a three bedroom loft with a little staircase with two bedrooms, Arizona’s and Alex’s now empty bedroom, and a tiny full bathroom. Downstairs was the living room, which was huge, a small kitchen, Teddy’s bedroom, and another bathroom. Teddy had enough clothing and all around crap, that Arizona and Alex didn't put up a fight at all and let her take the bigger downstairs bedroom. Arizona started to show Callie around, while Callie just took every little detail in.

"Obviously, we have a huge DVD collection," Arizona said motioning to the cabinet next to the TV. "Including, all seasons of Gilmore Girls," she added quickly and Callie excitedly smiled back at her. She then briefly showed her Teddy’s space, and then headed upstairs to show her Alex’s room. "So this would be your room, and the bathroom is right down the hall." The hallway was small, just enough to get between the bathroom, and the two bedrooms, but it was still nice to have a little privacy upstairs. Arizona and Alex used to enjoy their times on the second floor. The two headed into Alex’s old room, and Arizona felt a little sad, seeing it so empty. Callie walked in and looked around, while Arizona just leaned against the door frame. Callie walked to the window and noticed that it just looked out onto a brick wall. "Yeah," Arizona added noticing Callie’s slight disappointment. "Not much of a view. But downstairs has a lot of windows with a nice street view. And my window has the fire escape." Callie turned around and nodded, smiling.

"Can I see your room?" Callie asked innocently, quirking an eyebrow. Arizona stood up straight, internally trying to figure out if she left any gross underwear lying out on the floor.

"Yeah, of course," she stammered out eventually, heading out down the hallway to her room, Callie closely behind. "It's a little messy."

"Judge free zone," Callie held her hands up defensively. Arizona opened up her door, and let out a sigh of relief, thankful it was a lot cleaner than she thought it was. She stepped inside and Callie looked around. "It's very you," Callie said quietly looking at the pictures on the wall, with different inspiring quotes, and pictures of her friends and family. Arizona put her hands inside her jean pockets and leaned against the wall, not knowing whether to say anything response so she just shrugged her shoulders. Callie then faced Arizona with a smile on her face. "This place is seriously amazing. I don't know why Teddy thought I should see it before I decided." Arizona laughed and nodded, knowing very well how lucky they were to nab a great apartment.

"You never know," she drawled out. "Me and Teddy could be total psychos," she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Oh, I'm sure," Callie nodded seriously. "You hide the bodies in the floorboards?" Arizona quickly played along.

"No, we grind them up Sweeney Todd style," Arizona deadpanned.

"Obviously,”  Callie just nodded, still not breaking and laughing. "I shouldn't have even asked." The pair locked eyes and finally laughed. Arizona nodded towards the door and the pair left her bedroom and started to head downstairs.

"Do you want anything to eat or drink?" Arizona asked heading to the kitchen to grab herself a glass of water. Callie shook her head and leaned against the kitchen counter.

"I get too much free food at work," she responded as Arizona grabbed a glass from the cupboard and got some water from the tap. "So...not trying to be forward or anything," Arizona got nervous and swallowed her water, waiting for Callie to finish her sentence. The Latina was looking down at her hands, nervously. "But…" Callie still wasn't making eye contact. "Can I move in?" She blurted out quickly. Arizona had been holding her breath, and she quickly laughed.

"Jesus, I thought you were going to bring up murdering me or something," she said holding her hand over her heart, dramatically. "I thought that was obvious," she responded. "Yes, you can move in!" She said happily. Callie looked up from her hands and beamed and ran right into Arizona, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Thank you!" She said, still hugging Arizona. "I promise I'm not a murderer," she giggled, causing Arizona to laugh as well.

"Thank God for that," Arizona said still laughing. When they finally broke the hug, Callie smoothed out her skirt and blouse and then smiled at Carizona, so excited.

"I should probably let you get back to your Gilmore Girls date night," Callie laughed, nodding her head toward the TV in the living room. Arizona blushed a little, hoping her night didn't seem too pathetic.

"Well…I could always use a little company to commentate on the episode if you'd like," Arizona asked a little shyly, surprised by her boldness. Callie looked up, surprised, but with a huge smile on her face.

"Really?"

"Yeah, if you're not busy I have like two episodes left in season four," Arizona shrugged. Callie suddenly got really excited.

"Oh my God! I have to stay to watch Luke and Lorelai make out!" She said excitedly and started heading over to the couch. Arizona laughed, grabbed her glass of water.  _ This is really going to work out. _

/

An episode and a half later of Gilmore Girls, Arizona and Callie were sitting on the couch, side by side with a blanket thrown over their laps. The two talked through each episode, both having seen each episode several times. Every now and then would make ridiculous comments about the outfits the characters were wearing, that would make Arizona break out into a fit of giggles. Callie then went on a solid twenty minute rant about how Rory Gilmore is the worst, which led to a heated debate between the two, but ended in them both laughing at each other. Arizona noticed that Callie was leaning into her side a little bit more, and Arizona glanced to the side to see that she was staring at the screen intently, as it was a serious scene. Arizona smiled a little bit at how serious Callie looked, and then sighed out, leaning further into the couch. She was really happy Callie was so comfortable around her already.

When the episode ended, Arizona grabbed the remote from the coffee table and turned the DVD player off. She then turned and smiled at Callie. "Man," Callie sighed out. "That episode never gets old." Arizona nodded, and Callie let out a yawn and stretched her arms over her head. "I should probably get going," she said while sliding out of the blanket and standing up, smoothing out her skirt once again.

"Yeah you gotta get packing," Arizona noted with a smirk on her face. Callie looked down and smirked back. Arizona stretched out her legs and stood up, walking with Callie to the door. Arizona had this funny, warm feeling in her stomach. Tonight had just been really great, and she couldn't wait for Callie to move in. "So I'll see you this weekend?" Callie smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, if it's cool with you and Teddy I'd like to move in Saturday?"

"Of course," Arizona responded happily. "Teddy and I were going to be meeting Alex that night for drinks. We could turn it into a celebratory event!" She was suddenly really excited at the idea. Callie smiled at her and nodded her head.

"That'd be awesome," she stated. She then opened the door, before turning around and engulfing Arizona in another hug. "I'm really happy I get to be your new roommate," she whispered, while hugging her. Arizona felt a whole lot of warm fuzzies and squeezed Callie tighter.

"Me too."

Callie pulled back from the hug, "I'll text you and Teddy with details about this weekend."

"Sounds good. Have a good night!" Callie nodded and wished Arizona the same, smiling back at her, and then headed out to the hallway.

Arizona shut the door and smiled to herself looking around at the apartment, knowing immediately that she and Callie would become really good friends, and that this new living situation would work out for everyone involved.


	3. Ways to Go

_ (Oh I got a little bit longer) I got a ways to go _

 

After everything was decided and finalized that Callie would move in with Teddy and Arizona, the week went by at a rapid speed. Callie stopped by to sign the lease and drop off her deposit and the first month's rent, and before anyone could believe it, it was Saturday morning and Callie was moving. It was a chaotic string of events, considering the apartment was on the 5th floor and there was only one elevator for the whole building. Callie had rented a U-Haul truck to move from her current place, and Arizona had wasted a solid twenty minutes when she first pulled out making jokes about Callie being a truck driver, and asking if she had a walkie talkie, and what  _ really _ goes down at truck stops. Teddy kept rolling her eyes, stifling laughs, while Callie played right along. They then got right to work, creating an assembly line of sorts with Arizona unloading the truck passing to Teddy, Teddy bringing whatever she could fit on a dolly to the elevator then Callie unloading everything into the apartment. Despite protests from Callie that she could do it on her own, Teddy and Arizona insisted on helping out their new roommate. Unfortunately, about halfway through the moving process, Teddy had to leave for a study session. "That seems conveniently timed, Teds," Arizona sighed, take a long drink from her water bottle and wiping her sweaty brow. Teddy helped Arizona down from the back of the U-Haul.

"I told you I would have to leave!" Teddy got defensive, and took the water bottle from Arizona’s hands, taking a long sip herself, wiping some sweat off her face as well. "I have to shower, I feel ridiculously gross."

"Yeah, it's 500 degrees in that truck," Arizona leans against the truck and lets out a heavy sigh. Teddy peers into the truck.

"Well, at least there's not a whole lot left?" She offers, with a hint of optimism. Arizona raises her eyebrows at her.

"All the heaviest shit is in the back." She replies tiredly, and then goes to stretch her arms across her chest. Teddy gives her a shoulder a little squeeze before turning to head into the apartment. Arizona then turns to face the truck again, puts her water bottle down and climbs back in. After a few minutes she has managed to put everything toward the back of the truck to be able to reach things from the street, to load onto the dolly. She then piled the dolly up and pushed it into the apartment and waited for the elevator. When it came down Teddy was inside, completely dressed up, with makeup on, and totally put together. "Jeez, that was quick," Arizona laughs as she switches places with Teddy in the elevator with all of Callies stuff.

"I have my routine down," Teddy states matter of factly with a smile. "I'll see you tonight at the bar?"

"Yep, I already told Alex that Callie’s joining in and he changed the reservation."

"Great," Teddy then looks at Arizona sympathetically. "Sorry I have to leave, again."

"No you're not," Arizona laughs.

"True."

"Enjoy studying!" She waves off Teddy as the doors to the elevator close. When she gets to the 5th floor she rolls the dolly toward her apartment and Callie swings the door open.

"Hey Arizona!" She exclaims quickly helping Arizona. "I just was coming down to help you out." She helps Arizona take the items off of the dolly. "I figure I'll go down to the truck and help you out since Teddy left. The trucks gotta be almost empty, right?" She asks hopefully.

"Yeah, it should only be a few more trips. Did you get everything in your room so far?"

"Yeah," Callie nods, glancing up to her bedroom. "I still have to set everything up, but it's all in there." Arizona nods and gives her an assuring smile.

"Alrighties, let's get this done," Arizona stuck her fist out and Callie immediately bumped it.

"Let's do this."

About twenty minutes later the truck was officially empty and everything that Callie had was dumped in their apartment. They left the truck parked outside, and Callie would drive it back the next day since she had it for the whole weekend. The whole process wasn't as painful as they thought it would be after Teddy left, but the second they dropped the last load off both collapsed onto the couch. "Everything feels like jello," Arizona said exhaustedly. Callie just groaned in response, and Arizona felt her body melting into the couch next to her.

"I'm never forgiving Cristina for this," Callie finally said after a few seconds of the two sitting there in silence, letting exhaustion wash over them.

"Who's Cristina?" Arizona asked turning her head slightly to look at Callie who was rubbing her temple slightly.

"A friend from," she said. "She moved here from my hometown for college too." Callie then glanced over at Arizona. "I asked her to help, but she said she was busy," Callie had a hint of annoyance in her tone.

"Maybe she actually was busy?" Arizona offered and Callie just laughed.

"Oh, once you meet Cristina, you'll see why I don't believe that." Arizona just nodded and was going to make a witty response when Callie’s phone in her pocket started ringing. She pulled it out and Arizona could see  _ Mom _ flashing on the screen. "Better answer this." Callie stood up quickly and started walking toward the kitchen. "Hello? Yeah I got everything in…No, not yet." Arizona just lay out on the kitchen, trying not to eavesdrop too much. "No, Mom. No it's fine…" Arizona wasn't looking at Callie from the couch, but she could tell she was frustrated on the phone. "Yes, I will….I don't know…Okay…" Callie let out very loud exasperated sigh, and Arizona looked over the back of the couch at Callie and raised her eyebrows. Callie just shook her and rolled her eyes. She held the phone away from her face. "I swear, she calls and doesn't even need me to talk to have a conversation."

Arizona laughed, "Can she hear you?"

"Who knows? She's going on some rant about sheets," Callie sighed. She then put the phone back to her face. "Okay Mom, that's cool. I should get going though…No, you don't need to put Dad on. I'll call later…Okay…Bye…Yes, I will…Bye…No. I'll call later…Yeah. Bye." She quickly hung up and stuffed the phone in her pocket, while Arizona was laughing out loud at her. "What?"

"Does it normally take you 10 minutes to say bye to your parents?" she asked, still laughing slightly.

"You have no idea," Callie sighed frustrated again. "They are part of the reason that I live here, and not in Florida."

"I forgot you're from Florida. Miami, right?" Callie just nods. 

“You’re from Ohio?” Callie asked and Arizona. She looks at Callie thoughtfully, wondering if, maybe, she was running away and hiding out in the city as well; with some irrational fear that she would end up in Ohio for the rest of her life, working at a grocery store, never leaving.

"You alright there?" Callie asks, and snaps Arizona out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, spaced out," Arizona shot Callie a wide grin, as another thought came to her. "Why don't we take a break from all the heavy lifting and go for a walk?" Callie smiled at her, but looked a little skeptical.

"You mean replace exercise with more exercise?" She asked sarcastically. Arizona playfully shoved her shoulder.

"No..." Arizona drawled out, and then shot Callie an innocent, shy look. "There's a small park a block or so away, I want to show it to you. It's my de-stress place." Arizona looks at her hands, not making eye contact out of nervousness. "Then we can get a bite to eat on the way back," she continues.

"That sounds great, Arizona," Callie replied with a large smile on her face.

/

On the way to the park the pair joked around a fair amount, playfully shoving each other, laughing at random things they saw around their neighborhood, and telling short little stories; still getting to know each other a little better. Arizona looked over at Callie on several occasions, taking in her appearance up close for the first time since their first encounter. As they walk the few blocks to the park she notices for the first time that she is a few inches shorter than Callie. Something about the way Callie carries herself, and her confidence made her seem taller, but she continues to playfully shove the other girl's shoulder; trying to make Callie walk into things or other pedestrians on the street.

After a short walk, they arrive at the park and Arizona immediately feels herself relax and takes a deep breath in, feeling happy. She can feel Callie staring at her but she doesn't care. This is her happy place. She loves city life, but there is something about grass, and trees, and bodies of water…it's all so perfect. She grabs Callie’s arm and drags the girl to a small clearing of grass that looks over the pond, has a little bit of shade, but also some sunshine and sits down immediately. At first Callie just stares down at Arizona as she lays in the grass, stretching out. Arizona’s eyes are closed, but she knows Callie hasn't sat down yet and she peeks her eyes open, squinting, because the sun is right in her vision, "What too much of a princess to lie in the grass?"

"What?" Callie scoffs, and immediately sits down next to Arizona. "I just wasn't sure what we were doing." Arizona puts a hand to her forehead to shade the sun out of her eyes and rolls her head to look at Callie, giving her a confused look. "Like if there was some type of park activity we were going to do," Callie continues trying to explain herself. "Like something we're supposed to do." Arizona continues to not answer, letting the Latina bury herself deeper in the awkward hole she is digging for herself. She just raises an eyebrow at Callie, a smile creeping to her face, until she can't take Callie’s ramblings anymore.

"A park activity?" Arizona asks, clearly amused. Callie just rolls her eyes.

"You know what I mean."

"Do you know how a park works?" Arizona laughs. "You know there aren't rules…unless you were wanting to get naked or something, that's probably not allowed." Callie picks up a clump of grass she was playing with and throws it at Arizona’s face.

"Smart ass," Callie sighs out, going back to picking at the grass. "I don't do parks. I don't know." Arizona decides to keep up with her smart ass ways though.

"How does one 'do parks', Cal?" Arizona asks, sitting up on her elbows, trying really hard to suppress a smile. She finally sees a smile sneak onto Callie’s face.

"Shut up," Callie laughs. "Forget I said anything. Clearly I know nothing about parks."

"Clearly," Arizona laughs back. "I just thought we could lay out in the sun for a little bit. Enjoy the quiet." Just as she says quiet a large truck drives down the street honking at some cab several times.

"You were saying?" Callie says smugly, with a grin on her face. Arizona grabs a clump of grass and throws it at Callie.

"Smart ass."

They both lie in the grass for a little while in silence. Arizona just looks over at the pond, watching birds fly around, and a few ducks swimming around. She's not sure what Callie is looking at, but when she glances over at the Latina she sees her chest rise and fall slightly, and she wonders if Callie fell asleep. Just as she's about to close her own eyes Callie head to turns to face her and brown eyes are staring right back into her blue ones. "Your eyes are super blue," Callie whispers with a smile on her face. For her life, people have always complimented Arizona about her eyes. She should be used to it, but it still makes her blush.

"Your eyes are super brown," she whispers back to Callie, who also blushes slightly. Arizona takes this time to poke Callie’s cheek, and the Latina scrunches up her face, but smiles back at her. "So you sing?" She asks, curious to hear about Callie’s time at Columbia and what kind of performer she is. Immediately Arizona gets self-conscious, wondering if this is some topic she shouldn't be approaching with Callie. "I mean, I know Teddy said you did. I just wanted to know what type of music or whatever…" she trails off. Callie rolls her head back to Arizona and offers a smile of assurance.

"Oh, I know. Just get asked that a lot. It's like when people ask what your favorite movie is, you know?" Callie says, while she rolls over on her side to fully face Arizona. "There are too many good ones to pick from." Arizona looks over and smiles at her as she continues. "I like a little bit of everything," she looks down, and begins to absentmindedly pick grass, while Arizona twirls a dandelion between her fingers as she listens on. "I love to listen to hip hop, but I also love some indie bands, and old school boy bands."

"Obviously," Arizona adds.

"Obvi," Callie laughs. "And anything Beyonce has her hand in."

"Once again…"

"Obviously," Callie finishes for her right away, and they both grin at each other. "As for singing, it really depends. I love jazz, and some old school classics. Little Etta James, Tina Turner, Whitney. Just depends," she shrugs at the end of her sentence. 

"That's really cool," Arizona states. "I never was much of a singer."

"Psh," Callie scoffs. "Everyone can sing. You might not win a Grammy, but I'm sure you sing just fine." Arizona laughs at that a little bit. "Hell, I did some plays in high school, and you'd be surprised who ended up getting parts. People you'd never suspect to be able to sing." Arizona rolls over to face the brunette at that comment.

"You did plays?" She asks with a big smile on her face. Callie immediately shoves Arizona’s arm causing the blonde to fall back on her back.

"Shut up, it was just two plays."

"That's two more than I ever did," Arizona fires back jokingly.

"Whatever, I kicked ass," Callie bragged and Arizona just giggled and sat back up, crossing her legs and stretching her arms over her head. Callie sits up with her, right away. "What about you? What did you do in high school?" Arizona rolled her eyes and looked over at Callie, who was quirking an eyebrow at her. "Hey, I answered my question," Callie stated, raising her hands defensively.

"Yeah, yeah…I know," Arizona went along, plucking another dandelion from the ground. "I did all kinds of stuff. I wrote, I volunteered, I played some sports. I did a bunch of stuff, and I just kept trying to find something that stuck. That made me feel something.”

"I totally get what you mean," Callie states quietly. Arizona glances up and Callie is looking off in the pond, something clearly on her mind, but she doesn't push the subject, she just watches the Latina and feels a warmth about this moment. She doesn't usually open up to people this easily, but everything has just come so natural, and it just feels right, and it makes her happy and glad that she knows this person in front of her now. "So what does teaching kids do for you?" Callie asks, looking back at Arizona, snapping her out of her daze about her newfound friend.

"Hmm…" Arizona has to think over her answer, because she doesn't really get asked that a whole lot. “Makes me feel connected. It makes me feel like I’m doing something important for a minute.”

"But you don't want to do that as a career?"

"Nope," Arizona says quickly, and definitively. "I love the kids. But I don’t see it long term. You know how there’s that saying ‘those that can’t do teach’? Well I want to find something that I’m really passionate about, something that I can do and not just teach about it. If that makes sense?”

"Definitely!" Callie says, almost as if she's proud of Arizona, and Arizona can't help but grin at her, like she just planned out her whole life.

"Of course," Arizona sighs, the grin fading away. "I still haven't figured out how to do that yet. My major in undergrad was pretty random."

"What'd you major in?" Callie turns so that they are facing each other, cross legged.

"Sociology," Arizona says with a wide smile. Her major was random, and she couldn't exactly become a sociologist, but she loved her classes and classmates in her major. It made college so much more fun. In high school Arizona was never the star student. She wasn't stupid, but she wasn't the smartest in comparison to her friends, like Alex and Teddy. But when she was in her sociology classes, she felt smart. Maybe it was because it was the first time she was actually interested in the subject matter.

"Hmm," Callie nodded. "I don't think I've ever taken a sociology class." Arizona immediately gasped, and jumped up a little out of excitement.

"Oh my God, they are the best," Arizona knew geeking out wasn't her best quality, but she couldn't help herself. "I took a whole class on cults my sophomore year," Callie’s eyes widen and she looked interested. "It was seriously the coolest class I've ever taken. It made me really paranoid of everything though," Arizona laughed. "Then I took a whole class on sex," Callie quirked her eyebrow up at that. "Yeah, that was hilarious. We talked about some inappropriate shit, but it was great. I got to use the phrase 'orgasmic' in a paper, and look at porn videos," Callie laughed out loud, and Arizona started to giggle; remembering out loud to Callie about the time Teddy walked in on her watching porn and having to explain that it was for a paper.

They both were rolling over laughing, tears in their eyes, as Arizona described Teddy’s horrified reaction. When they got their breathing back to normal, Arizona continued. "I also took classes on racism and poverty…I loved every minute of it. It really opened my eyes to a lot of injustices out there. In one class we learned all about Native American reservations and that just fascinated me so much. It's so crazy the injustices those people face, but how powerful their culture is…" Arizona found herself getting heated quickly, as she remembered all of her readings about Native American life, and how badly they've been treated.

She locked eyes with Callie and found a look of admiration on her face. "What?" Arizona quickly blushed, and became self-conscious, realizing she's been talking for way too long.

"Nothing," Callie quickly says. "I just think it's so awesome how passionate you are," causing Arizona to immediately blush. "You're just a genuinely nice person," Callie finishes.

"You're nice too," Arizona says with a sincere voice, leaning forward ever so slightly and putting her hand on Callie’s, not even thinking twice about the action. Callie just smiles.

"To you I am," Callie removes her hand from underneath Arizona’s and pats the top of it gently before going back to picking grass. "I'm pretty judgmental when it comes to other people."

"Everyone judges, it's human nature."

"Not everyone is a bitch though," Callie states without looking back up at Arizona. Arizona wants to protest and defend Callie, but she gets it. Some people are a bit more judgmental than others, and that can come across as bitchy. But there's no way that Callie could be a bitch, she hasn't seen a mean bone in the girl's body since meeting her.

"I guess," is all she can come up with to say in response, but she's not saying that she agrees or thinks Callie is a bitch, and judging by the ever so small smile that she sees on Callie’s face: she knows Callie understands what she meant.

The two sit together closely, looking at the birds and ducks in the pond, neither saying anything just enjoying the peace and quiet. Then a loud growling noise comes from someone's stomach. "Was that yours or mine?" Callie asks a hint of embarrassment in her voice.

"I don't know, but I'm starving."

"Food time?" Callie jumps up from her spot, reaching a hand out to pull Arizona up, which she gladly accepts.

"Food time!"

/

The two walked out of the park, arms bumping into each other and giggling again. "So where we going?" Callie asks. Arizona thinks for a minute about what she's in the mood for and what would be a good place to introduce Callie too.

"Depends," Arizona drawls out. "You're not a vegetarian are you?" Arizona stops in her tracks, secretly hoping she doesn't have another meat hater on her hands.

"Oh God no," Callie responds with a look of horror on her face. Arizona breathes out a sigh of relief.

"Thank Jesus. Teddy kills me with that nonsense," she grabs Callie’s arm and takes her down a street, knowing exactly where they're going to eat.

Walking a few minutes down the street and rounding one corner, they arrive at their destination, without Arizona telling Callie where they were going. They walk into a hole in the wall place that Arizona found a few months ago on her own. It was a small diner where they cook the most delicious burgers that Arizona has ever tasted right in front of you as you sit at the counter. Just by stepping into the diner Arizona’s mouth waters. She pulls Callie to the counter and they slide onto stools next to each other. Arizona watches as Callie looks around at her surroundings skeptically.

"This will be the greatest burger you'll ever eat," Arizona quickly says to reassure Callie.

"Oh really, now?" Callie quirks an eyebrow. Arizona nods her head when the cook at the grill looks over at them and gives a head nod.

"2 cheeseburgers with onions and fries," Arizona spits out quickly. The cook nods and goes back to the grill. Arizona looks over at Callie and beams at her, so excited to share her little secret burger joint with her new friend. Her stomach begins to rumble again when she hears the sizzle from the grill a few feet away. "So did you have a lot of classes with Teddy at Columbia?" she asks to distract her from her hunger.

"Just a few."

"How was that?" There's a little laugh in her voice, because she knows exactly how it would be. She had enough classes with Teddy in high school to know just how annoying know it all she can be. Judging by the groan Callie makes in response, she knows Callie agrees with her.

"The worst," Callie says with another groan. "She spoke more than the professors." Arizona nods knowingly and laughs to herself at memories of Teddy in high school and the amount of eye rolls she would receive from classmates of theirs. "How did you guys become friends anyway? You seem so different," Callie states.

"We are," Arizona laughs quietly. "Her and Alex always had my back in high school. We all met in gym class early on, and Alex and I clicked instantly. He lived by my family so he always felt like a brother. For a minute I even had a little crush on him." Callie laughs a little bit at that. "But he's still my best friend, I love him. And Teddy sorta came along with knowing Alex. We all were the odd balls of our high school, and a little on the weird side, so hanging with them was like a judge free zone. We've all always being there for each other, no matter what." Arizona states; smiling at the fact that she has such strong friendships with Teddy and Alex.

"I would have pegged you for miss popularity in high school," Callie says, nudging her a little bit with her elbow.

"Hell no," Arizona scoffs. "I've always been super quirky, so has Teddy. And Alex is too rough around the edges for most people," her face lights up thinking of her best friend. 

"Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun."

"Oh for sure. But they both were also there for me when I had some family stuff going on in high school," Arizona adds, her tone turning more serious. "So it was nice to have them to rely on and help." Arizona isn't sure why she added that. She usually doesn't bring up her family issues to anyone. Most people look at her relationship with her family and assume that they are all extremely close, and perfect. After all, it's almost a thing of the past…almost. Callie looks over at her as she gets lost in her thoughts, but she doesn't question Arizona. Arizona is grateful that she isn't being pushed by the brunette to elaborate further.

"That's good that you had them, then. And it's even cooler that you're all still so close," Callie says looking up as their respective cheeseburgers and fries are placed in front of them. A huge grin spreads across both of their faces. "This looks delicious."

"Wait 'til you taste it…"

/

Arizona has completely devoured her burger in a matter of minutes and has moved on to her fries, but is completely stuffed. She smiles over at Callie every time she takes a bit from her burger and the Latina moans. "Enjoying yourself?" Arizona asks through a giggle.

"I's so 'ood" Callie mumbles, her mouth full of burger.

They finish eating quietly, both enjoying their meals. The cook comes by and drops a greasy bill in front of them. Arizona grabs it and smiles when she sees it's under $10 (another reason why she loves this place). Callie reaches in her own pocket to pull out money to pay, but Arizona quickly slaps her hand away.

"My treat! To celebrate you moving."

"But-"

"Buy me a drink tonight, and we'll call it even."

Callie doesn't bother protesting further and just slides off the stool, stretching her arms and legs. "God, I feel like I just ate my body weight." Arizona laughs and nods in agreement. "I'm gonna need a nap when we get back," Callie states as they head out of the diner, back to the apartment. Arizona nods again, instinctively yawning at the mention of a nap, suddenly realizing just how tired she is.

"Hey Arizona?" Callie asks quietly after they have been walking for a little bit. Arizona looks down at her, acknowledging she is listening.

"Yeah?"

"Do you miss Alex?" Callie asks shyly.

Arizona is confused by where Callie is coming from. She remembers their earlier conversation, where she went on for a while about how close she and Alex are. She looks at Callie and wonders if Callie is worried or nervous, or even jealous. She decides to play dumb a little to figure out what Callie means.

"A little, but we're seeing him tonight!" She replies cheerily. Callie nods, but stays quiet for a little bit.

"You think-" Callie starts to say, but pauses. She then takes a deep breath before starting again. "Do you think he won't like me?" Arizona narrows her eyes in confusion. "Cause I like replaced him…or something?" Arizona immediately laughs, thinking Callie is being ridiculous, but not wanting to be mean about it.

"I think…"Arizona starts slowly, while Callie eyes her nervously. "You two will get along just fine." She finally finishes. "He'll love you cause you're sassy and tough like him." Arizona smiles at her and Callie immediately relaxed.

They finally made it back to the apartment, both wiped out and exhausted, making their way to the couch, flopping down on top of it. They both looked over at each other and the same time said, through giggles, "Gilmore Girls time?"

/

At some point within the first few minutes of the episode Callie and Arizona ended up laying down on opposite ends of the couch, with Arizona’s feet by Callie’s head and vice versa. Within another few minutes Arizona was pulling the blanket that was draped over the back of the couch and placed it over both of their legs. Within another few minutes she was fast asleep, eyes heavy.

\

Arizona felt a slight, soft nudge on her leg and her name being whispered. She peeled her eyes open slowly, seeing Callie sitting up rubbing her leg slowly. The mixture of seeing Callie’s hand and feeling the light squeezes through the blanket, she felt a flutter in her chest as her heartbeat quickened. "We fell asleep," Callie whispers groggily. Arizona is still distracted so she just nods. She's not sure why she's distracted, but something about the small strokes of Callie’s hand that makes her feel something warm in her chest and stomach. "It's getting a little late and I figured we should start getting ready." Callie removes her hand and Arizona immediately misses it, but tries not to show anything. Callie stretches her arms over her head, her t-shirt rising a little bit in the process. Arizona quickly diverts her eyes, not even knowing why she looked anyway.

"Sounds good," Arizona finally says, her voice scratchy from sleep and sits up. Callie swings her legs off the couch and reaches her hand down to help Arizona up, which Arizona gladly accepts.

"You can shower first," Callie says as they head upstairs. "I still gotta set up my room a little." Arizona just nods, yawning again.

It's not until they get to the top of the stairs and go to part ways that she notices they haven't stopped holding hands since Callie helped her up off the couch. She can't help the huge smile that spreads across her face as she turns away from Callie and heads into the bathroom.


	4. Closer

_ Here comes the breath before we get a little bit closer _

_ Here comes the rush before we touch, come a little closer _

_ The night sky is changing overhead. _

**August 2011**

Arizona got out of her shower and was in her room getting ready while blasting Beyoncé's "Love on Top". She was quietly singing along in her skinny jeans and bra, looking for a top to wear. She finally decided on a simple black V-neck. She looked down at her chest to make sure her cleavage was under control. She then moved on to find earrings and other jewelry to go with her outfit. Arizona doesn't go out very often, so when she does it's pretty exciting.

"Someone’s a dancer" she heard a voice from behind her. She jumped up a little, but smiled when she saw Callie standing, leaning against her door frame.

"Was I dancing?" Arizona scrunched her face, confused.

"You were swaying a little bit," Callie chuckled. Arizona finally took in Callie’s appearance. The Latina was wearing a casual, short, black dress and heels. Her black hair was down and flowed over her chest. She had very little makeup on. Arizona realized that Callie was one of those people that had to put little effort into making herself look presentable. Meanwhile, for Arizona, at least in her mind, it took an entire army to get her to that level. When the song switched to an Usher song, Arizona remembered her staring had prevented her from staring.

"Oh, weird," she quickly responded, turning to her mirror to apply some lip-gloss. "I didn't even realize." She finished up and turned back around to Callie. "That's a really awesome dress," Arizona said, but in her head it went more like you look really beautiful.

"Thanks," Callie responded with a smile. "You look great." The flutters in Arizona’s chest returned, and she was hoping she wasn't blushing. Arizona met her at the door and they began to walk downstairs, as Arizona grabbed her purse from the couch, swinging it over her shoulder. "So do you know much about the place we're going to?"

"Nope," Arizona shook her head. "Alex is pretty notorious for finding hole-in the-wall places. This place will probably be full of hipsters." They grabbed their stuff, Callie taking a light jacket despite how warm it was out, and heading out the door.

/

After talking the entire way there and making little jokes and comments throughout the short subway ride they arrived at Brooklyn Tap House. The restaurant was fairly large and trendy on the inside. There was also a big outdoors area with multiple bars, and an area cleared out for dancing if people wanted. Arizona had received a text from Alex that he would be in the back, outside, at a table, waiting for them. They made their way through the small crowd; Callie absently grabbed the inside of Arizona’s arm to make sure she didn't get lost. Arizona looked down at the grip that Callie had on her arm and smirked a little bit.

Arizona spotted Alex standing at a tall table across the dance floor and near the bar. Arizona immediately beamed, and waved at him, as she hurried over; Callie attached at her arm all the while. "Alex!" Arizona squealed once they reached the table and she managed to break away from Callie, enveloping Alex into a big hug. Alex rolled his eyes a little bit, but couldn't help himself from hugging back tightly. "I miss you," Arizona sighed a little bit, still hugging him. She then remembered her new, now left out, roommate and let go of Alex and stood next to Callie with a proud smile on her face.

"I miss you too," Alex frowned a little bit. "But look! Here we are still hanging out, as per usual," he quickly added to make Arizona feel better, and she smiled at his thoughtfulness.

"I know, I know," she sighed out. Arizona quickly smiled and resumed her mission to introduce Callie to Alex. "Anyways," she dragged out. "Alex, I want you to meet the new and improved you," she added, causing both Alex and Callie to roll their eyes at her. "Callie Torres!" She flipped her hands over to present Callie formally. Callie laughed a little at the dramatics and extended her hand to Alex.

"It's so nice to meet you," she said politely, shaking his hand. Alex grinned at her and pulled her into a hug.

"Oh, please," he said after he let Callie go. "You're putting up with Arizona and Teddy for me. We are officially friends." Callie laughed as Arizona scrunched up her face defensively.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh, you know," Alex waved the comment off, while sliding two stools over to the table and returning to his stool at the table. Callie shrugged her jacket off and took a seat, while Arizona looked around at her surroundings, taking in the atmosphere a little bit. She loved bars that were outside. You could see the city landscape, enjoy fresh air, but also feel like you were just hanging out a bar. She sighed out contentedly, while leaning against the table, looking at a couple grinding on the dance floor to a Robyn song. She was right in her assumption that the bar would be full of hipsters, there was more flannel and beards then she could count.

"Arizona?" She heard a voice next to her and realized she hadn't even sat down yet, as Callie was eyeing her and the stool questioningly. "Did you want to order some food?" Callie asked pointing to the menus that had mysteriously appeared on the table, while she was zoning out.

"Of course!" Arizona quickly sat down next to Callie, feeling a little embarrassed, but Callie just smiled at her.

"We have to make sure we order a salad for Teddy," Alex sighed, as he opened his menu and browsed the options. Both Callie and Arizona nodded, agreeing.

"With bacon," they both dead panned at the same time. Their heads shot up to each other and they both broke out into a fit of laughter.

"Well," Alex laughed. "I see you have already found common ground in teasing Teddy." Callie and Arizona were still laughing, but went back to looking at their respective menus.

"Poor Teddy doesn't even know yet," Arizona stated shaking her head, still smiling.

"She is an easy target," Callie shrugged, causing both Arizona and Alex to nod their heads.

After a few moments of looking at their menus, they all were ready to order. Arizona and Callie went for burgers, Alex decided on a small pasta dish, and a baconless salad for Teddy.

/

While they were waiting for their food and Teddy to arrive, the three chatted. Since Alex and Callie both graduated from Columbia they discussed different courses they had, annoying professors, and compared notes on whether or not they had any mutual friends. They found they had more in common than they thought, and they started to ask if they had heard from certain people since graduation to see what they were up to.

Although Arizona could not add too much to the conversation, she was still happy to see the two talk and get to know each other. Alex was one of her closest friends, and she really wanted Callie and him to get along. They had ordered a pitcher of beer to start off and she was just finishing glass number one as a loud squeal interrupted her peaceful thoughts. "I'm here!" A very loud Teddy Altman exclaimed from behind her, practically running into the table. Both Alex and Callie looked up, looking just as surprised as Arizona.

"Relax, teddy. You haven't missed anything," Alex rolled his eyes and took a large drink of his beer.

"Did you order? Did you get me a salad like I had asked? No chicken or bacon bits right? I never understand why restaurants insist that all salads need to have some type of meat product in it. Callie, as you know I'm a vegetarian-"

"We know!" Arizona, Alex, and, surprisingly, Callie cut her off simultaneously.

"We got you a salad," Arizona said pouring herself another beer from the pitcher, and pouring Teddy a glass as well. "Should be here any minute."

"Oh, I don't know if I want beer," Teddy said, scrunching her face at the glass Arizona slid in front of her.

"It's a beer garden," Arizona and Callie said at the same time, locking eyes with each other after and laughing again.

"Fine," Teddy sighed, and took a sip of her beer begrudgingly. Meanwhile, Callie refilled her beer and brought her glass up in the air.

"A toast," Callie said, causing the other three to raise their glasses as well. "To new friends!" Alex and Teddy both smiled, and as the four glasses met in the middle Callie locked eyes with Arizona and winked at her.

Arizona couldn't help but notice she had stopped breathing when she released her breath to take a very large drink from her glass.

/

An hour later the group was now on pitcher number three, and Arizona had lost count of how many beers she had drank exactly. She was definitely feeling a bit tipsy though, but was very thankful that she was always a happy, giddy drunk. It seemed her three friends were all on the same page as her, as they were all giggling like idiots over some story Alex was telling about a horrible blind date he went on last year with a girl who was a professional wrestler and tried to fight him.

They had finished eating a little while ago, and were just enjoying the outdoor atmosphere and telling different embarrassing stories. "What about you Callie?" Alex had asked, letting out a deep breath, and wiping some tears away from laughter. Arizona looked at Callie, but wasn't sure what she was answering because she had spaced out before Alex had asked the question.

"Horrible dates?" Callie asked, taking another sip of her beer, and Alex and Teddy nodded excitedly, waiting for another story. Arizona hadn't even asked Callie if she had a boyfriend yet, and so she suddenly became really interested in whatever Callie was going to say. "I haven't been on a date in years," Callie laughed a little bit, but avoided looking up from her glass. Arizona could tell that this topic made Callie a little uncomfortable. "I don't date much," Callie shrugged, and got quiet. Arizona looked at her curiously, wondering if the Latina had some type of bad experience in the past, but Callie clearly didn't want to elaborate as she looked over to the dance floor.

"Arizona! Tell the story about that psycho you dated from NYU," Teddy exclaimed, hitting Arizona in the arm. Callie looked over at Arizona with a big expectant smile on her face.

"James, aka Momma's Boy, aka Douche Bag, aka LAX Bro?" Arizona asked, causing both Teddy and Alex to laugh out loud.

"Oooh, now you have my interest!" Callie exclaimed putting her elbows on the table and her chin in her hands as she looked at Arizona. Arizona took another sip of her beer and went into an elaborate tale of her college boyfriend who got a little too controlling for her liking, and the breakup went terribly.

"-and then he sent me this like ten page email about how it was my fault we never had sex, because I was the one who didn't initiate anything," Arizona said after going through their whole relationship and breakup. "Meanwhile, if I may remind you, he was the one that took three months before even asking me out, and then another 2 weeks after we dated before he even kissed me! Like, what the fuck!" Arizona could tell she was getting heated, and decided to just leave the story there, as she thought it would be better to leave it at a funny part then have her get all angry and upset about her ex. Both Alex and Teddy shook their heads, as they had lived the relationship with Arizona, and both were happy when it finally ended, as it was very unhealthy.

"That sounds terrible Arizona," Callie laughed a little, and rubbed her arm sympathetically. "I'm sorry." Arizona just smiled at her and shrugged.

"Oh well," Arizona said, finishing off what was left of her beer, and went to pour another glass, finishing off the pitcher. She drank her beer quicker than she had intended, and she was definitely feeling the effects of the alcohol at this point and Alex had ordered yet another pitcher.

"We should dance!" Teddy exclaimed extremely loudly, clearly buzzed as well. Normally, Arizona would roll her eyes and refuse, because she didn't always like to dance in bars. However, she was clearly drunk, because she shot up from the table and grabbed Callie, pulling her to the dance floor with Alex and Teddy.

/

They had been on the dance floor for a few songs, dancing in a group circle, and being silly for the most part. Alex and Teddy got out of breath after jumping up and down to a Miley Cyrus song, and decided to head back to the table. It was just Callie and Arizona now, and because the alcohol was coursing through her veins, Arizona had lost all inhibitions and started dancing closer to Callie. Arizona wasn't sure what song was playing, but just let the steady beat of the song move her hips. Callie had clearly had dance classes before, because she was a great dancer. Arizona was by no means a perfectionist, but it was always frustrating when she would want to dance, and people kept stepping on her feet clumsily. However, Callie was not having any problems keeping up with the song, and with Arizona.

Arizona knew she was drunk, by the fact that she did not really care about her surroundings, and she had very few issues with the fact that she was so close to Callie. For the life of her, though, she could not remember how many beers Callie had drank. She looked up at Callie and her eyes were closed as she was losing herself in the beat of the song, her face getting a little sweaty from how crowded the dance floor had gotten, and how humid it was outside. Arizona couldn't tell if Callie was drunk too, but she quickly forgot all of her thoughts when Callie had put her arm around Arizona’s neck and pulled her closer. "You're so good at this," Callie whispered loudly over the music into Arizona’s ear.  _ Yup, definitely drunk,  _ Arizona thought, with a little smile to herself.

"You too," Arizona whispered back. Not knowing what else to do with her hands, Arizona put them on Callie’s waist, causing Callie to lean even further into Arizona. Despite being drunk, Arizona senses were on overload as all she could do was breathe in Callie’s scent and feel Callie’s fingers caressing her shoulder slightly.

Arizona had danced with other girls before, but usually it was in a silly way, or to get guys' attentions during college. There was something that felt very different about this, but Arizona didn't have the capacity to question it at the time. Instead she pulled Callie even closer to her by her hips. Arizona then began to grind a little bit into Callie’s legs, as Callie wrapped both of arms around Arizona’s neck, eyes still closed, moving to the beat of the music. Arizona slid down a little bit, then made her way back up, moving her arms up and down Callie’s back.

"Your ex was an idiot," Callie breathed into Arizona’s ear. "You're awesome." Callie was leaning a bit more on Arizona at this point, but her breathing into Arizona’s ear was causing the blonde to shiver a little bit, despite the heat.

"So was yours," Arizona responded.

"I didn't tell you about mine," Callie giggled a little bit, the two still holding each other closely.

"Well, I'm sure he was the worst," Arizona said. The song switched to another fast pace song, and Callie started moving her hips into Arizona’s again, rubbing her shoulders a little bit. Callie pulled her head back a little bit, looking into Arizona’s eyes.

"There is no ex," Callie said. Arizona was still moving to the beat, but looked at Callie with a confused expression. Arizona wasn't sure what her face was doing, but it caused Callie to giggle a little bit. "I told you…" she said leaning back to Arizona’s face and moved right to her ear. "I didn't really date." Arizona pulled her head back and looked at Callie.

"Ever?" Arizona exclaimed a little more shocked than she had intended. Callie just shrugged and went back to dancing. She turned in Arizona’s arms, her back now facing the blonde, grinding her butt into Arizona’s front a little bit.

Callie turned her head slightly to face Arizona, "Ever," she stated, and went back to grinding her butt into Arizona. The blonde instinctively wrapped her arm around Callie’s front, not wanting to move too far away. When the Latina stood up a little bit straighter, Arizona pulled her impossibly closer, leaning over Callie’s shoulder.

"But you're hot," Arizona unintentionally whispered out loud before she could stop herself. Arizona’s eyes widened and she pulled back a little bit, her face flushing even more than it had been. Callie grabbed Arizona’s arms that were around her stomach and held them there, not letting her move away. She looked over her shoulder at the embarrassed blonde and smirked at her.

"Why thank you, roomie," she giggled and turned back around in Arizona’s arms. She put her arms around Arizona’s neck and the two stared at each other for a few seconds. Arizona’s heart was racing, but she wasn't sure why, and she wasn't sure why she made that comment, and she definitely wasn't sure what this feeling in the pit of her stomach was, or why she danced with Callie so closely. Callie just smiled at her, with an unreadable expression on her face. "Another beer?" Callie asked pulling away from Arizona and nodding her head back over to the table, already heading in that direction. Arizona quickly nodded yes and followed Callie, unsure of what had just happened.

/

The next morning Arizona woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside of her window, the morning sun heating up her small bedroom quickly. Her eyes were still closed, and she was lying on her side facing her window. She didn't want to open her eyes, because she already knew the room would spin, and the nauseous feeling in her stomach would not be okay with that at this point. Instead she just kept her eyes tightly closed, hoping the feeling of the room spinning would go away with more sleep.

As she tried to nuzzle further back into her pillow she felt two things that she didn't notice when she first woke up.

Breath hitting the back of her neck.

An arm wrapped around her waist tightly.

Arizona’s eyes shot open and she stared at the window in a panic.  _ What happened last night? _ She quickly recounted all she could remember from the night before. Everything after the dance floor with Callie was a blur. They finished another two pitchers. She remembers Alex ordering shots of jaeger. She did a tequila shot with Callie. Teddy hooked up with some tall guy. There was a cab ride home that involved singing along to Beyoncé.  _ I didn't hook up with anyone…then who is in my bed. _

Arizona quietly lifted up the covers to look at the arm around her waist. She saw a strong, delicate, tan hand, and suddenly her heart was beating even faster, if possible. She knew exactly whose arm that belonged to. She gently rolled over, keeping the Latina's arm on her waist and when she rolled over she saw her new roommate, peacefully asleep, cuddled close to her.

She kept Callie’s arm around her waist, and smiled at the fact that Callie was sharing her pillow. She tried to remember what happened after the cab, and when they got back to their apartment, but she couldn't remember for the life of her, and before she could overthink it the room started to spin again and her stomach turned from nausea. She got comfortable on the little amount of space of her pillow that Callie had left and closed her eyes, quickly falling back asleep. Forgetting the 5000 questions that have been racing through her mind, and decided to ignore them, and just enjoy a friendly cuddle.


	5. Hey Mama

_ What you doing for the rest of your life?  _ _   
_ _ Cause you don't want, don't wanna go _ ...

**August 2011**

When Arizona woke up the second time that morning her bed was a lot less warm, and a lot less full.  Her eyes were still closed when she absentmindedly moved her hands around to feel that she was in fact alone.  She started to retrace the last night in her head, and remembering that when she woke up earlier Callie was in her bed with her.   _ Did I dream that?  What time is it? _   
  
She slowly sat up, feeling her headache and nausea creep back up on her from earlier.  It’s not that Arizona can’t hold her liquor. She proved herself to be quite the champ back in college.  However, her hangovers have been known to leave her unable to move for hours at a time. She put her head in her hands feeling her hands shake slightly and her pulse can be felt in her temple.  She becomes very aware of how beer can still be smelt on her, and how her bladder feels as if it is going to explode. She looks across her bedroom door; feeling as if her bathroom is miles away.  She slowly gets up and makes her way across her room, grabbing a towel and moving toward the bathroom.

The apartment is silent, and she still hasn’t checked to see what time it actually is yet.  She guesses it is either still really early, or it is now relatively late and her roommates are all out for the day.  She doesn’t really care and turns the shower on full blast and full heat, hoping the water would make her feel a bit refreshed.

After a far too long shower, Arizona is back in her bedroom, turning her cell phone on only to discover that it died over night.  She plugs it into the charger, and after waiting a few moments she turns it on. Since she doesn’t have an alarm clock, and her phone is her primary watch, she waits while her phone boots up and looks out her small apartment window.  The sun is streaming in, and it’s a beautiful summer day. Something isn’t sitting right with Arizona though.

It’s not just the fact that she is hungover.  It’s the confusion of last night and earlier this morning.  It’s the fact that, despite her shower, she can still feel Callie’s arms around her waist.  It’s the fact that she can still feel the way her heart beat inside of her chest like a stampede last night when they were dancing together.  It’s the fact that no matter how many boys grinded up on her last night, nothing felt as good as throwing her arms around Callie and dancing with her.

**12:42** her phone shows.   _ Could be worse _ she thinks to herself.  As she puts her phone down on her bed and goes to get changed, her phone begins to immediately buzz and chime with new text messages.  She lifts it up and sees she has 5 new text messages starting with last night.

**Teddy (2:17AM): eher afe you?**

**Alley (2:18 AM): I’m taking drunkypants mcdrunkster teddy home with me before she pukes on the guy shes with! Think we lost you on the dance floor! Get home safe!!**

**Teddy (6:23 AM): Good morning dear! I’m going to go for a light workout this morning and then will be doing some studying in my bedroom all afternoon.  What a lovely day! So warm and sunny outside!**

Arizona couldn’t help but roll her eyes at Teddy’s upbeat, lack of a hangover demeanor.   _ Some people have all the luck. _

**Mom (9:13 AM): Call me.**

Arizona looked at the phone in her hand and breathed in deep, feeling her head pound slightly harder.  She then hit the back button on her phone and her heartbeat both quickened, and calmed down simultaneously.

**Callie (10:20 AM): hey arizona! sorry i peaced out on you. I had to get into work by 11 :(. Also…sorry for falling asleep in your bed?  I get kinda cuddly when I drink. Sorry! Anyways, hope youre not too hungover, my head is killing me :( . okay, well just thought I’d text you to let you know where I was and apologize for being the worst when it comes to stealing peoples beds!**

Arizona can’t help the smile that creeps onto her face as she reads Callie’s thoughtful message.  It also made her feel less guilty for feeling like shit today to know that her other roommate was not doing so hot either.  

**Arizona (12:47 AM): no worries! Totally cool with the cuddles haha.  And I feel like shit too! Have fun at work!**

Arizona smiled as she sent her message and stared at her phone.  She scrawled back through her messages and landed back on the one from her mother.  Her mom was hours away, part of the perks of being out in New York. When she got messages like this, she could take as long as she wanted to respond back.  She could wait days if she really wanted to; even though she never would.   
Arizona has always had a very complicated relationship with her mother and family.  At this point in her life, she could not be farther from them. It’s not that she hated them.  In many ways they were the reason she was in New York and being the all-around person that she has become. However, her family also brings her the most stress.  In a lot of ways she has been running away from her family situation ever since college. Her biggest fear is not making it in New York or anywhere, and being forced to move back to Ohio with her family.  She misses them, and loves them. But the stress that they bring, and the drama that she gets sucked into whenever she goes home, is enough to make her try and stay away for as long as she possibly can. 

But as she sits on her bed, with her wet hair dripping down her back, and the two words her mother sent her  _ Call me  _ she can’t help but press the call button, bringing the phone to her ear.   
“Hello,” is the short response she gets from her mom.  Just from one word, she can tell what kind of mood her mom is in.

“Hey.  You texted me?” Arizona asks, almost timidly to make sure she does not sound annoyed, frustrated, or anything else that would set her mother off.

“I did?”

“Yeah Mom,” Arizona sighs, shutting her eyes and rubbing her temple with her free hand.  “You texted me a few hours ago asking me to call you. What did you want?” She can’t help herself from getting a little bit more annoyed and frustrated.

“Oh,” her mom begins, taking another long, dramatic pause.  “I guess I did.”

“Yeah Mom, you did,” Arizona lets out a very loud, frustrated sigh.  “What is it that you wanted?” She wants to add that she doesn’t have time for this, that she doesn’t care what’s going on (as long as no one is dead), and she wants to hang up.  She doesn’t do any of this; she just patiently waits for her mother to answer her question, taking her time.

“Well I just thought you should know the latest move your father just pulled,” her mother responds, clearly angry.  Angry at Arizona’s dad. Angry at Arizona. It never really matters. Her mom has an interesting way of taking all frustrations, no matter what the cause may be, out on her children.  Arizona goes to say _No, I don’t want to know,_ but her mother keeps going, “He spent over $2000 on a new transmission for a car.  A car that should have been sold years ago. We can’t afford to take a vacation as a family, but he can put two grand into a piece of shit car!”  Her mother is screaming now. Judging from the way that she is not addressing her, Arizona knows that her father is more than likely in the room with her mother.  Arizona closes her eyes, knowing that anything she says to her mother right now will not help the situation. Arizona doesn’t want to help the situation, though. She used to want to.  But now she just wants to hang up, she just wants to not have to hear it anymore.

“Okay, Mom,” Arizona says calmly, and evenly.  Before her mom can get out another string of complaints against her father, Arizona hangs up.  She quickly turns her phone off, and throws the phone on her bed. 

Despite the fact that she just showered, Arizona has a strong urge to go outside and blow off some steam.  She has so much anger in her blood right now, that if she were to just sit in her apartment all day in bed, she would just get more upset.  Arizona looks out the window and sees how nice it is outside, and immediately makes up her mind as she gets up to grab her running shorts and sneakers.

/

She is not sure how long she has been running.  Her iPod is blaring in her ears, and she has lost herself in song after song, not paying attention to where she is going, or anything else that edges its way to her mind.  Eventually her legs begin to grow tired, and the heat becomes a little too much for her, as she struggles to keep up with her own pace that she has been running. She sees a bench a little ways off the path and decides to stop running and make her way over to the bench for a short break.  Her whole body is drenched in sweat and her legs feel like jello the second she sits down. She is not sure what time she left her apartment, and her iPod is telling her it is almost 2pm. She left her phone at home, not wanting to deal with anything or anybody.

It is the short fleeting reminder that she does not have her phone with her that Arizona thinks back to her conversation with her mother.  She is not nearly as mad about the situation, as all of her energy went into her run. However, she can’t help but think about it, and think about all of the past times that a similar conversation happened.  She also can’t help but be very thankful that she lives in New York and not Ohio; where she can hang up and not deal with any consequences.

It’s not always like this with her mom.  In fact, she and her mom are extremely close, and they talk all of the time.  Her mom just has…moods. Moods where if she is in the wrong one, her entire demeanor shifts and somehow Arizona ends up the target.

Arizona leans back on the bench and sees friends sitting in the grass talking to one another, and couples lying in the grass, heads in laps, fingers stroking different body parts.  She can’t help but smile briefly at the sights around her. However, a slight twinge of jealousy makes its way into her brain. She is suddenly very aware that she is the only person around that is by herself and cannot help but feel very lonely.  The loneliness causes her to go back to a different conversation she had with mom after she graduated in which her mother asked why she just doesn’t move back to Ohio, “Will you even have any friends left in New York?” her mother argued. Arizona fought back stating that she will have Alex and Teddy.  “But they’ll be busy doing something. Won’t you get lonely? At least here you have your whole family?” Arizona rolled her eyes at her mother and kept insisting that she likes alone time, and she has other friends besides Teddy and Alex…doesn’t she?

Now here she is, alone.  Feeling lonely. All of her NYU friends off doing their own thing.  Alex and Teddy busy doing their own things. 

She hates that her mother was right.

Then, just as she is about to drift into a spiral of guilt for always getting easily annoyed with her mother, since she was actually right, she remembers the latest addition to her life.

Callie.  A new friend.

But just as her thoughts begin to get happy and thankful for her new friend she remembers how Callie is a waitress, has her own group of friends, and hasn’t even really known Arizona long at all.  For all Arizona knows, Callie is just being nice for the first few weeks, and then will never talk to Arizona again once she gets a busier workload or a different job. 

Arizona feels defeated.  She feels exhausted. She feels guilty for hanging up on her mother, who was probably just having a bad day with her father.   She feels jealous of all of the couples and groups of friends around her. She pushes herself off the bench, slowly, and bends down to stretch out her legs and back a bit.  With one last defeated glance around her, Arizona heads back to her apartment, at a much slower pace than she had before.

\

When Arizona gets back to the apartment she is exhausted, drained, and soaked in sweat from the humidity and workout.  She can faintly hear Teddy mumbling law facts to herself in her bedroom, and Callie is still at work. She goes up the steps and immediately gets in the shower of her and Callie’s bathroom to get the sweat off of her, and relax her body a little bit.

For the second time in one day she is in her bedroom, toweling herself off, turning her phone back on, and hearing her phone chime alerting her to new text messages and emails.  She takes a deep breath, awaiting all of her new alerts being from her mom or another member of her small family: yelling at her for hanging up earlier. However, instead she has five messages, all from Callie. 

**Callie (12:50 PM): Ugh, I hate crazy ass customers.**

**Callie (1:10 PM): If I puke in someones food…would I get fired?**

**Callie (1:13 PM): why aren’t you responding to entertain me??? Im sooooo bored.**

**Callie (1:27 PM): sorry, im the worst. Im just cranky and tired and bored and feel like poop.**

**Callie (3:45 PM): thank jesus, im leaving now!**

The last text was sent 20 minutes ago, meaning that Callie would be home any minute.  Arizona has a huge smile plastered on her face as she sees all of the texts from Callie.  She can’t help but feel annoyed with herself for not bringing her phone with her on her run and for turning it off.  She immediately hits reply to type out a message.

**Arizona (4:05 PM): ahhhh sorry my phone was off!!! Hahaha, I’m sorry work sucked, let’s hang out when you get back!!**

Arizona’s grin won’t leave her as she quickly throws a pair of jean shorts, or when she throws a t-shirt on, or when she runs downstairs and throws in an episode of Gilmore Girls while she waits for Callie to get home.  For some reason the flood of text messages from the Latina, have left Arizona in a rejuvenated mood, and she is suddenly excited for the evening. She feels silly, and happy, and any previous frustrations are inexistent as of right now. 

Just as Carole King’s “Gilmore Girls” theme song comes on, she hears the apartment door unlock and in walks a Callie, looking exhausted, and a bit disheveled from her commute home.  Arizona shoots up from the couch immediately, “You’re home!”

“Jesus!” Callie grabs her chest, drops her bag, and leans against the door.  “I didn’t see you there,” Callie says after taking a deep breath in. “You scared the shit out of me.”  Arizona blushes, briefly, before jumping up over to Callie and picking up her bag for her.

“Sorry,” Arizona says with a small giggle and puts the Latina’s purse on the kitchen counter for her.  “I’m just excited your home!” Callie quirks her eyebrow slightly at Arizona and grins back at her.

“Someone is hyper…” Callie notes as she kicks her shoes off and walks over to the couch, with the current episode the girls have left off on.  Arizona is at her side, practically bouncing with energy and excitement. Callie plops herself down and looks at the TV, Arizona just looking at her with a big smile on her face.  “What’d you do all day anyways?” Callie asks, trying not to sound as tired as she is. The second she asks, she notices a slight shift in Arizona. The blonde tenses ever so slightly, and her smile fades the tiniest bit.  She doesn’t answer right away, just glances to watch the scene on the television. 

“Nothing really,” Arizona shrugs and then looks back at Callie.  “Went for a long run, cleared my head.” Arizona goes back to the television, but Callie keeps her eyes on the blonde, noticing the slight shift in her mood.

“You okay?” Callie asks quietly.  Arizona snaps her head from the TV and grins at Callie.

“Of course!” Arizona’s cheery, hyper mood, back in full force.  “Just bored all day, and excited I have someone to play with now!”  The blonde giggles and it forces a small chuckle out of Callie. 

“Sounds good Arizona,” Callie laughs, then places her hand on Arizona’s thigh gently to push her off the couch.  “I’m going to go shower, and then make some dinner. Want some?”

“You’re gonna cook after a day of waitressing?”  Arizona scrunches her face at her roommate.

“I like cooking, it’s relaxing for me.”

“Oh,” Arizona nods, not fully understanding, because cooking does nothing but stress the blonde out.  “Well if you’re offering a free meal, I won’t say no.” Callie smiles and nods and heads up the steps.  Just as she gets to the top of the stairs, Arizona watching her all the way up with a smile, Teddy’s door flies open.

“I’m off!”  Teddy exclaims, barely acknowledging Arizona’s presence and running out of the apartment.  Arizona thinks about how she was stressed about not having many friends and feeling lonely, and suddenly feels very silly for those kinds of thoughts.  

/

A little while later Callie comes back downstairs looking much more refreshed, and lot less exhausted.  She goes straight to the kitchen and begins pulling out skillets, and various vegetables from the refrigerator.  She gets a knife and cutting board out and goes straight to work. Arizona jumps up onto the counter to the side of Callie, trying to be out of her way, but also not wanting to be away from her either.  “Do you need help?” she asks. Callie looks around to see if there’s anything, but she’s not the best at giving directions.

“I think I’m good right now,” she says before quickly adding, “I’ll let you know though.”  Arizona just nods then gets a great idea. She runs upstairs to her bedroom, and sprints back downstairs.  Callie looks up from her chopping and sees that Arizona has an iPod in her hand. “Music?” Arizona nods excitedly and plugs her iPod into the iHome in the kitchen.  

“We are going to play my favorite game,” Arizona announces as she takes her seat on the counter next to the iHome.  Callie, still chopping away, quirks an eyebrow at Arizona, but doesn’t need to ask, because Arizona is already explaining.  “I have over 10,000 songs on my iPod.”

“Holy shit,” Callie says, pausing briefly looking over at Arizona, shocked.  Arizona just nods with a toothy grin and a proud look in her eyes.

“I know, it’s a big accomplishment in my life,” Arizona states proudly.  “Anyways, we are going to play the music game.” 

“What’s that?”

“I’m going to play a song, and you have to guess what it is.”  Callie simple furrows her eyebrows, and glances at Arizona, looking very skeptical.  “It’s a lot more fun than it sounds. I promise.”

“Whatever you say,” Callie says with a chuckle, and Arizona can’t help the flutter in her chest at the how relaxed and comfortable Callie feels around her.  

/

_ You are….My fi- _

“I Want It That Way by Backstreet Boys!” Callie exclaims as she is mixing up some seasoning over the skillet.

“Ugh, that was an easy one,” Arizona sighs going back to the iPod.  She finds the next song, and not even five seconds into it…

“Colors of the Wind from Pocahontas.” 

“Jesus,” Arizona sighs, letting the rest of the song play.  “You are ridiculously good at this.”

“You do remember I studied music in college, right?”  Callie laughs a little bit, and Arizona just shrugs, while she gets two plates from the cabinets.  “You were right, that game was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. And you stumped me on some of those throwback jams.”  

“What can I say,” Arizona dusts the fake dirt off of her shoulder.  “I love me some early 90’s slow jams.” Callie laughs out loud as she turns the burners off.  “Is it ready?” Callie nods, and takes Arizona’s plate as she serves up the veggies and gets a tortilla for her.  

“Just some fajitas,” Callie shrugs, handing Arizona her plate who is quickly licking her lips.

“Looks and smells delicious!”  Arizona says happily taking a seat at the counter, but waits to eat until Callie joins her.  “Thanks for making this.”

“I usually make too much anyway.  It’s nice having someone to cook for…well, with. Cook with,” Callie stutters, and Arizona looks at her curiously not knowing why Callie got flustered all of a sudden. 

“Well, me and my tummy appreciate it,” she says, and Callie just smiles back at her as the two dig in.

While they eat, Arizona asks several questions about Callie’s day, and the Latina tells her stories about her ridiculous customers that she had to serve.  She also explains how she had to run to the bathroom at one point, early in her shift, because she thought she was going to puke all over the kitchen. Arizona is hysterically laughing the entire time, and it just eggs her on to keep asking more questions about Callie’s job and life in general.

She learns that Callie has always done waitressing as a part time job, and has been working at this restaurant for two years.  It pays decently, and she gets good tips from the regulars. It’s just a small place on the Lower East Side and does a big brunch business on weekends, which is what she was working at today.  She explains that the food is pretty decent, and she always gets to get some free lunches to take home. She tells Arizona about some of her favorite regulars; one being an old man who always flirts with her and shows her pictures of his grandkids.

The entire time that Callie is speaking Arizona cannot help but want to know more and more about the brunette in front of her.  She feels as if she needs to catch up on all of the last times that she should have been friends with the Latina all in this one meal.  Arizona starts asking her question after question, in an attempt to learn all that she can. 

“First crush?”

“I was in 5 th grade and it was a boy that was actually a total jerk to me named Matt.  He said I had squirrel hair.”

Despite feeling bad for Callie, Arizona couldn’t help but find that a little bit hilarious.  She then told Callie about her weird obsession with John Travolta’s Danny Zuko from Grease to make her feel better.

“First kiss?”

“Freshmen year of high school actually.  This dumb boy named Glen just walked up to me at a party and kissed me.  It was really anti-climatic, and kind of gross. He smelled like Doritos.”  Once again, Arizona felt bad, but also had to laugh at the story.

“Mine was actually in 3 rd grade…” Arizona added, feeling a bit promiscuous, despite her non-slutty nature, and it was a peck on the lips at nine years old.

“Woah, check you out.  Moving pretty quickly,” Callie laughs out while taking a sip of her water, causing Arizona to immediately blush.  “Elementary school slut.” 

“Pimping ain’t easy,” Arizona shrugs, causing Callie to burst out laughing, almost spilling her drink.  

The two spend the next hour or so at their kitchen table, telling stories and asking each other questions.  Arizona learns Callie is from a big family, lots of cousins, and she is very close to all of them. She is also very close to both of her parents, even though they annoy her.  Arizona doesn’t share too much about her own family, but just keeps asking Callie more and more questions about her family. She’s Hispanic, and very proud of her roots. Her parents are first generation, and they all worked very hard to build their lives here in America.  Arizona also learned that Callie speaks fluent Spanish, and had to restrain herself from asking her to say a string of sentences in Spanish, since Arizona has never really been good at learning different languages. 

Callie then went on to start telling story after story about her childhood and holidays with her large family.  Arizona’s stomach began to hurt from laughing so much. The girl across from her is talking a mile a minute, telling a ridiculous story involving diapers, chocolate, and someone getting very confused when they ate something.  Callie’s eyes light up and her hands are flying animatedly through the air as she speaks. Arizona isn’t even sure what the point of the story is, or how they got talking about poop mishaps, but both girls are so caught up in their laughter as the story comes to a close that nothing matters.  All she wants is to spend forever hearing every single story from the girl in front of her, and hearing the magical sound of their laughter mixed together. 

/

The next few weeks went very similar.  The two girls spent their evenings eating dinner, playing music on Arizona’s iPod, while asking each other all kinds of questions getting to know each other.  Sometimes the questions were simple like “Favorite color?” Callie’s was red, and Arizona’s was blue. Other times they would get deeper or more philosophical.  “Biggest regrets?” Callie claimed she didn’t have any. Arizona said she regretted a lot of the choices and things that she did in high school, but didn’t elaborate too much.  Callie and Arizona come home every day after work and the two will sit and watch some Gilmore girls and talk about their days. Sometimes Tedd will join in before she rushes out to the library. 

Arizona schedule is getting more and more filled with classes as the summer is coming to a close and private tutoring.  As much as she loves seeing the little kids, and teaches them new things every week, she is starting to get a little restless with her work.  When she studied issues around poverty and social injustices in her undergraduate work, she always thought that she would get a job or do work that would be in that area, or would be helping other people.  It’s not that teaching kids to color doesn’t help in a small way. But it’s not the kind of rewarding work she ever pictured herself doing. Once she started to feel restless and antsy Arizona started to look for volunteer groups in the NYC area.     
When Arizona was younger her mom made her go to the Catholic mass with her every single Sunday.  She went through all of the steps of first communion and confirmation, but she never really connected too much to religion and God.  It was all a little too much for her to grasp at a young age, and while she was at NYU; religion was not really part of the culture there at all.  However, she can’t help but find herself on some church websites looking at different volunteer opportunities and seeing when and where their services are held.  Arizona was lost; she needed something, someone, anything to give her some type of direction.

/

During the last week in August it was finally Teddy’s  big test the LSAT. Arizona was also really proud of Teddy, knowing how hard Teddy had worked to get to this point in her career.  Even though it was a small step, it was still a step in the right direction. 

For the briefest of moments, as Teddy headed off that morning to take her test Arizona felt the slightest twinge of jealousy. Jealous that Teddy had a clear direction. Jealous that Teddy was making progress.

Despite her slight jealousy, she still helped Alex plan a party event for Teddy the night after her test.  They invited all of Teddy’s Columbia friends, and other people that the three of them had gotten to know throughout their time in the city together.  Callie was invited as well, of course. The two had been so busy with work, and planning the little get together, that they didn’t really go out at all.  They had their nightly dinners and question and answer sessions, but aside from their first weekend in the apartment together, they had not really drank around each other.  Arizona and Alex insisted that Callie invite whoever she wanted to; even though she might know some of the Columbia students, they did not want her feel left out. Callie was hesitant at first, telling the two that she didn’t want to intrude on Teddy;s big night, but Alex and Arizona were anything but persistent.  Finally, she caved and said she would ask if her friend Addison was free that night.

Arizona was excited because, after many conversations with Callie, she knows how close Addison and Callie are.  Addison seems like a good friend to Callie, and someone that Arizona would like to get to know better, and hang out with.  However, from the stories that Callie tells about her adventures and outings with Addison, she sounds like a different person from the one that Arizona has gotten to know.  Callie has told Arizona many stories about drunken crazy stunts, and causing stupid drama with people throughout their friendship. Callie seems a lot more intimidating when she tells stories that involve Addison, and Addison seems a lot more intimidating the more Arizona hears about her.  Still, despite all of this, Arizona is excited to hang out with both of them at Teddy’s big after party. 

/

Teddy passed the LSAT with flying colors, of course.  As soon as Teddy texted them about the test Arizona, Callie and Alex head out to get a cab to Hell’s Kitchen.

Arizona and Callie were in their own world on the cab ride, while Alex stared out the window getting impatient with their goofy antics.  Arizona loved every minute of it. For years she was always the friend third wheel with him and Teddy, and now she had her own buddy to cling to and be obnoxious with all of their inside jokes.  Arizona would poke her in the side (she quickly learned that was one of Callie’s ticklish spots), and Callie would try and poke her back or grab at her hands. 

When the cab pulled up to the bar Alex practically leapt from the vehicle, and Callie quickly followed, leaving Arizona to pay for it.  Both Alex and Callie said that they would repay her in copious amounts of alcohol, which was fine by Arizona.

The bar was relatively dead, as they had rented out the back room for their little gathering.  They were definitely early, but the trio wasted no time in hitting up the bartender for a round of drinks on Alex.  They posted themselves at a table in the back room near the DJ, and Arizona and ALex immediately began to rattle off a string of song requests for when the rest of the group would get there.  

Within a half hour Teddy and Alex’s Columbia friends started to show up, and Callie actually knew a majority of them.  They all started talking and congregating around the bar, catching up on life after graduation. Arizona was leaning against the bar, minding her own business, sipping her beer, and enjoying the current song on the speakers. She had her eyes on the doors to the back room, waiting for Teddy to arrive so she can give her a big hug, congratulate her, and buy her a shot.   Just as she was starting to feel the tiniest of buzzes and down the rest of her drink, a tall, thin, redhead woman walks into the back of the room of the bar. Arizona doesn’t recognize her as one of the regular Columbia people she associates with Alex and Teddy, and she doesn’t look like anyone she saw at Teddy’s jobs. The redhead is dressed fashionably, in a sundress and high heels, her makeup is perfectly done, and her shoulder length hair is styled with a slight curl.  She looks around the bar like she is looking for someone and then spots someone near Arizona and waves. Arizona turns her head slightly to see who she is waving at and sees Callie next to her beaming and waving the blonde over.  _ Addison. _

/

Ever since Addison arrived, Arizona hasn’t gotten a word in with Callie.  The two were squealing and immediately ordered shots once Addison walked up to the Latina.  Arizona remained at her spot, leaning against the door, waiting for Teddy. But her eyes were now trained on Callie and Addison, trying to overhear their conversation, and waiting for the Latina to introduce the two women.  Arizona isn’t sure if she should walk up and interrupt them, which seems kind of rude, or to just wait it out, but she’s not sure if Callie knows that she’s waiting. So she just goes with what she has been doing and sips her beer, realizing it’s almost over.  As she turns her head to order from the good looking male bartender, she feels fingers at her back and a breath in her ear, “I’ll buy.” She immediately feels the blush on her face, and the warmth against her neck, recognizing the voice of Callie, and she nods, swallowing hard as Callie orders her another drink.  “Come on, I want you to meet Addison,” Callie laces her fingers through Arizona’s hand once they get their drinks, and tugs her over toward Addison. 

Suddenly Arizona is nervous, and very conscious of her sweaty palms.  She’s not sure if she’s breathing properly due to Callie’s grip on her hand and the way she breathed in her ear when she whispered.  She is also extremely aware of how ridiculously pretty and perfect Arizona looks. Meanwhile, Arizona feels weird in her khaki capris, flip flops, and denim button up.  The bar wasn’t really a dressy thing, but here Callie and Arizona are in their cute sundresses, that make them look anything but cute, and she feels like someone’s kid sister that was invited to the party by accident.  Despite the fact that she organized this, and this was for her friend.

“Arizona, right?” the redhead girl in front of her is stretching out her hand, and smiling friendly.  Arizona has her drink in her left hand and Callie’s hand is still intertwined with her right.  _ What do I do with my hands? _ Even though she could easily let go of Callie, she finds herself feeling like she doesn’t want to, but Callie makes up her mind for her and releases her grip.  Arizona reaches out and gives Addison’s hand a shake, hoping her hand wasn’t as sweaty as it seemed in her mind. “So nice to meet you!” 

Addison seems friendly, and nice, but Arizona’s always a bit skeptical of certain people, well ridiculously pretty people to be exact.  “You must be Addison,” Arizona smiles back at her. “So nice to meet you too. I’ve heard a lot about you.” Addison laughs at this, and from the corner of her eye she can see Callie blush a little bit.

“Oh, all horrible things, I’m sure.”  Addison laughs, sipping her fruity looking drink.  Arizona isn’t too sure how to respond to this, because the stories didn’t make Addison sound all too appealing, so she just smiles and shrugs instead.  “So Callie tells me you tutor?” Arizona nods, swallowing her drink.

“Yeah, I teach a little bit right now.”

“You must be smart?”   Addison is still smiling and Callie is leaning against the bar eying up the crowd.

“No, no.  Not really,”  Arizona states, never really sure how to take compliments.  “Just still trying to find something else, a little more meaningful, to do with my time.”  Callie quirks her eyebrow at Arizona, probably because Arizona has never said anything these last few weeks that she has been looking around at other options.  “It’s something to keep me busy for now though,” Arizona quickly adds, and Addison nods, downing the rest of her drink. 

“Callie, let’s do some more shots,” Addison says, a little bit more demanding and pushy than Arizona would like, and Callie downs the rest of her drink and goes to follow Arizona.  She turns her head over her shoulder and looks back at Arizona with slightly glassy eyes.

“Come on, come with,” Callie says reaching her hand out for Arizona to take.  Despite how badly Arizona wants to she smiles and shakes her head at Callie, something not sitting right with her about Addison.

“I’ll wait until Teddy gets here.”  Callie pouts a little bit, which causes Arizona to chuckle, but hurries over to Addison who is ordering shots at the bar already.  Arizona looks at them with a feeling of jealousy and almost annoyance. There’s something about Callie that is different when she is around Addison, and she’s only been around her for a little bit.  Arizona shrugs it off and tries not to let it put any kind of damper on her night so that she can still enjoy herself.

As if on cue, Teddy busts through the doors to the backroom in full dramatic fashion.  “I’M HERE!!!” While Arizona wants to roll her eyes, she can’t help but laugh at her friend, running over to her and engulfing her into a huge hug.  

“Congrats girl!”  She says as she releases Teddy from her grasp.  Teddy is absolutely glowing in a “passing test” high.  “Your first several drinks are on me. Or Alex.” She says as she tugs Teddy over to the bar and orders Teddy and herself two shots of tequila.  Teddy grimaces when she is handed the lime and the shot.

“Arizona, you know this makes me sick…” Teddy whines, but Arizona urges her hand to her mouth and makes her drink it.

“You won’t get sick from the tequila, you’ll get sick from the martini I’m ordering you because it has seven different flavors in it,” Arizona says as she turns to her bartender friend and gets the fruitiest ingredient packed martini available, much to Teddy’s delight.  Arizona hands Teddy her drink, and before Teddy can get a word out she is being grabbed by her Columbia friends, and a whole lot of squealing and cheers are going on. 

Arizona looks around for Alex and sees him flirting with some girls.  She glances around trying to find Callie or Addison at the bar, but doesn’t see them anywhere.  She spots an empty seat at the end of the bar and decides to take up post there since all of her friends are busy.  

Arizona doesn’t usually mind being left by herself, but sometimes it makes her hyper aware of how alone she feels sometimes.  Everyone else seems to have some type of track to their life and her mother’s voice echoes in her mind bit by bit. She pulls out her phone and goes on Facebook, seeing some updates of some friends of hers from NYU; they’re all traveling the country or world doing exotic things and having exciting experiences.  She types in her brother’s name, Tim, into the search bar and see that he last checked in at a local bar from their hometown in Ohio. She sighed loudly and just went back to her beer, finishing it quickly and sliding it in between her hands.

“Another one?” A male voice from across the counter asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.  The bartender was leaning against the counter, nodding toward her empty glass. He was a big burly guy, who looked like he was more of a bouncer than a bartender, but he had really friendly eyes and dark hair.

“Oh no,” Arizona said smiling.  “It’s kind of depressing to drink by yourself.”  The bartender smiled politely at her, but looked concerned.

“You’re not part of this big group here?”

“I am,” Arizona shrugged looking around here.  “My best friend and roommate is the one we’re celebrating actually.  But...everyone else sort of went off with different friends.” The bartender gave her an understanding smile and nod, then looked to see if he had any more customers down at the other end of the bar, which he did.

“Well, I’m Tony, you can hang with me until they come and find you,”  He said while shaking her hand then went off to take care of his other customers.  Arizona smiled at his kind words then looked around again for any sign of Callie and Addison, and when she didn’t spot them went back to focusing on Tony who came and brought her another beer while asking her name.

/

Over the next hour the music and the crowd seemed to get exponentially louder.  Maybe that was just Arizona’s imagination though since she had stopped heavily drinking since she took a seat at the bar.  In order for Tony to hear her he would have to lean over the counter while she whisper-shouted into his ear. She was nursing the beer in front of her, and enjoying the small talk she was making with the large bartender.  She spotted Teddy getting sloppier and sloppier, but could tell she was having a lot of fun with Alex and her friends. Every now and then someone that she recognized would come up to her and chat about what she has been up to, and make some small talk before going off with their own friends.

Tony was in the middle of pouring some drinks and telling Arizona about some crazy customers he has served, and some of his favorite regulars.  After just recently having this kind of conversation with Callie, she was learning a lot about people in the food/bar industry and she was fascinated by all of the different crazy stories she was hearing.   “Well and then you have your typical drunk college girls,” Tony continued telling her about the different types of people he sees. “They are the ones that know no self control and are just boozing it up to get shit faced.”  Arizona nodded in understanding, knowing that she was that person during college a fair amount of time. “Kind of like those two over there,” Tony said while nodding behind Arizona. She whipped her stool around and saw Addison and Callie in hysterics in each other’s arm, clearly wasted.  

Arizona was frozen in her seat a bit, unsure of whether or not she should go check in on them or stay where she was.  She was kind of disappointed though. She had imagined her night spent hanging out with Callie and getting to know Addison, being included a little bit on their world.  Instead, she was more or less ignored by the pair all night, and was pretty sure they had disappeared and left up until now. She looked at them until Callie locked her glassy, drunken eyes on Arizona and made eye contact.  The second Arizona made eye contact she turned back around to face Tony, acting like she didn’t just see Callie and Addison. Unfortunately, she was too late for that route. 

“Arizona!!!”  She heard screamed from behind her over the music and the chatter.  She looked at Tony who raised his eyebrows at her and shook his head while going back to other customers.   _ Great, now he thinks I’m the drunken college boozehound. _  Suddenly two tanned arms were being aggressively thrown around her neck, and she was practically pulled off her chair.  “There you are!!” A loud squealing Latina was yelling into her ear. She could smell the alcohol on her, and she was quite sweaty.  As annoyed as Arizona was, she couldn’t deny that it felt nice even just being in the presence of Callie.

“Yep,” Arizona said, spinning slightly on the stool to face Callie.  “Here I am.” She smiled at Callie, noticing Addison behind her, clearly obliterated.  

“Where’ve you been?”  Callie asked with a pout, her hands still on Arizona’s shoulders.  

“Here,” Arizona gestured toward the bar and her seat.  Callie leaned in and pulled Arizona into a hug.

“I missed you,” Callie whispered into Arizona’s ear.  The blonde immediately felt the chill go down her neck, and her senses were on overload with Callie.  The way she smelled like vodka, beer, and sweat, and the lotion that she uses. The way her hands were in a vice grip around her, holding her close, and the way her voice sounded in her ear.  Arizona wanted to be mad. She wanted to feel lonely and annoyed. But instead everything was Callie So she smiled and hugged her back, opening her eyes to find Addison had been staring at them, but quickly snapped her attention toward the dance floor.

“I missed you too,” Arizona says quietly, releasing her grip and pulling away from Callie.  Callie’s eyes were drooping and she was having a hard time standing up on her own. “How much did you drink?”  Arizona asked the two of them, while rubbing Callie back. The Latina was currently leaning all of her weight on Arizona, and Addison was not really paying attention.

“Some shots, and then we went to the bar next door...more shots,” Addison stated flatly.  

“You should have come with us,” Callie mumbled against Arizona’s shoulder.  Arizona laughed a little about how drunk her friend was, but also was a little annoyed that they had left the bar to go somewhere else.

“I wasn’t entertaining enough for you?” Arizona asked with a bit of annoyance showing in her tone.  Callie’s head shot up from Arizona’s shoulder and she looked up, still clinging on to Arizona.

“No, no, no, no-”  Callie shook her head.  “Addison just-” She looked back to Addison for some support, but the other woman just rolled her eyes.

“I was kidding, it’s fine.”  _  No it’s not. _  Callie smiled and hugged Arizona again.  “Jeez, you really do get clingy when you’ve been drinking.”  Arizona felt Callie nod her head against her neck and continued to rub Callie’s back.  Arizona didn't know what to say to Addison because other than sheer annoyance with how she's acted so far, the two women didn't really know each other.  

"Hey Arizona," Tony called from behind the counter. Arizona turned her head more to see him, since Callie made no signs of moving.  "Your friend need a water?"

"Who the hell are you?" Callie slurred while sitting up a little bit more, away from Arizona.  Tony just rolled his eyes and laughed, as Arizona tried to shoot him a sympathetic smile conveying  _ Just ignore her. _

"He's my new bartender friend, Cal," she said it in a playful tone, but also gentle, rubbing her arms as she struggled to focus her eyes properly. 

"Ooh, can he get us free drinks?" Addison was now next to Arizona, leaning against the bar.  Tony just rolled his eyes and went back to other customers. "Lame."

Addison had pulled out her phone, clearly bored at the whole situation, and Arizona still sat on the stool, rubbing Callie’s back.  She was unsure how long she was sitting there, but when Callie let out a loud burp and gagging noise, she sat up immediately. She kept her hands on Callie’s sides as she pulled away, looking at her in the face.  Callie’s eyes were closed and she was swallowing, but she looked like she was going to be sick any minute. “Cal...” Arizona whispered, giving her arms a light squeeze. “Are you going to puke?” Callie just shrugged.  She turned her head back and saw that Tony had already placed a small cup of water there for her. She caught his eye as he was pouring a drink and shot him a grateful smile. “Come on Cal, drink some water,” she said as she grabbed the cup and guided it to Callie’s mouth.  Callie drooled a little bit, not fulling swallowing it, and spitting some back out. “Keep drinking,” she said, rubbing Callie’s sides. 

Arizona looked behind Callie, to Arizona, for some guidance, but found the redhead still on her phone texting away.  “We should get her home,” Arizona said to Addison who snapped her head up from her phone and shrugged at Arizona.

“Yeah, whatever,” she said.  Arizona rolled her eyes and then brushed some hair that had fallen onto Callie’s face.

“We’re going to get you home Cal,” She said as she propped Callie up so more.

“No,”  Callie mumbled, fighting to get her eyes open.  “I’m good. I’m good. Really, see?” She slurred as she pulled back from Arizona’s embrace and tried to stand on her own.  She immediately became unstable and looked like she was about to throw up immediately. Arizona raised her eyebrows at Callie and tried not to laugh at her.  

“Yeah, I’m sure you’re fine, but it’s getting late and I’m kind of tired,”  She said, hoping to make Callie feel a little better. “Don’t you have work tomorrow?”  Arizona asked, knowing she might have some leverage with that approach. 

“Oh yeah…” Callie smiled at her dopily and fell back into Arizona’s arms.  “Let’s go,” she slurred. 

Addison was already heading toward the door, and Arizona looked around for Teddy and Alex, but couldn’t find them in the crowd.  She figured she would just text them once they got in the cab. She gave Tony another sympathetic smile and he waved her goodbye.  Callie had now become dead weight and was repeatedly burping. Arizona took a deep breath in preparing herself for what was sure to be a very annoying ride home. 

/

“Addison!”  Arizona yelled reaching over and slapping Addison’s arm to wake her up.  “We’re at your place.” Addison’s eyes opened and she reached for the door.

“It was nice meeting you Arizona,” she said with so much fake cheer that Arizona could almost vomit.

“Pleasure was all mine,”  Arizona said under breath as Addison opened the cab door and got out.   _ No need to pay me for half the cab ride, not like we went out of our way or anything. _

Arizona didn’t even bother to make sure that Addison got into her apartment safely.  She gave the cab driver her and Callie’s address in Brooklyn, and enjoyed the silence.  Callie had fallen asleep the second they got into the cab. Her head was on Arizona’s shoulder, her dark hair covering her face.  Arizona looked down at the Latina with a smile, feeling her breath on her shoulder as she quietly slept. 

About twenty minutes later they were in front of their apartment.  Arizona had to maneuver around Callie’s body to get her credit card out of her bag to pay for the cab.  The bill was a lot more than she was expecting, and she was mentally doing the math in her head, trying to figure out how low her bank account was after tonight.  After paying, she opened the door and tried to wake Callie up. After some slight nudges in her side Callie woke up and started to slide slowly out of the cab. Arizona pulled Callie’s arm over her shoulder and helped her walk to the door.  They got into the elevator with little no problem. The second the elevator started moving up to the fifth floor Callie pulled her arm that was around Arizona arm to her mouth and staggered forward as she started to puke and cough up. “Oh no…” Arizona said as she rushed forward and rubbed Callie’s back as she puked up the rest of what was in her system.  “It’s alright, get it out.” The doors to the elevator opened and Arizona was thankful none of her neighbors were around. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”

“I’m so sorry,” Callie slurred, still covering her mouth.

“It’s fine.”

/

Another half hour later, Arizona had gotten Callie into bed with sweat pants and a large t-shirt on.  Callie passed out immediately on contact, and Arizona was too drained to care about undressing her roommate.  She threw Callie’s puke stained clothes in her hamper so that she could wash it tomorrow morning without Callie’s room smelling like puke.  She put a trash bin on Callie’s night stand with a bottle of water and some aspirin.

Once that was all done she sent out a text to Alex and Teddy letting them know her and Callie were back in the apartment safely.  She then added  **Addison is not my favorite person** . 

After all of that she took on the task of cleaning out the elevator as best as she could despite her exhaustion.  She brought some paper towels, wipes and plastic bags and cleaned it up as much as she could. It took her yet another twenty minutes to clean everything up.  She dragged herself back into her apartment and up the stairs to her and Callie’s rooms. She poked her head in to see if Callie had gotten sick again; which she hadn’t.  After all of that she threw herself into her own room, quickly stripping herself of all of her clothes and throwing on a pair of sleep shorts and a tee. She plugged her phone in and saw that it was 3:15 AM.  She closed her eyes and immediately drifted off to sleep.

/

Arizona woke up to the sound of her and Callie’s toilet flushing next door.  She figured that Callie was awake, and she almost wanted to go check on her to see if she was feeling any better.  But, on the other hand, she was also really annoyed at the Latina for how her and Addison acted last night. It was annoyance mixed with disappointment, which was the worst kind of feeling.  She rolled over, her body feeling achey from all of the heavy lifting last night. She checked her phone for the time and saw that it was only 8:20 am. She didn’t have any new texts or calls from Teddy or Alex, and figured that they were both passed out, hopefully safely.  She remembered today was Sunday and how she wanted to start checking out some church services. She didn’t feel hungover or even that tired.

She sat up a little bit and pulled up some information on her phone about local masses in the area and decided she would get changed and catch a 9:30 service.  She quickly threw on a simple outfit and put her hair up in a ponytail. She glanced at her mirror and shrugged  _ Good enough. _

She slipped out of her bedroom, seeing that Callie’s door was closed and there was no movement coming from her bedroom.  Figuring Callie was probably back in bed sleeping off her night before work, Arizona headed out.

/

Despite her ups and downs, and doubts with faith: there has always been something soothing about sitting in a church service.  Since she grew up with it, she knows all of the motions very well. She knows when to sit and kneel, what to respond when the priest says a certain phrase, when she is supposed to bless herself with the sign of the cross, and when she is supposed to be in prayerful silence.  

The church is a large old cathedral, but there are not many people in attendance.  It was mostly a lot of old people (who were adorable in Arizona’s opinion), and a few families.  The priest was an old man, but his homily was really sweet and beautiful. 

The main thing that Arizona has always liked about going to mass is the music.  The singer was a small younger woman with a beautiful voice and a simple piano player.  A few of the songs Arizona recognized, but she didn’t sing along, she just sat and listened peacefully, becoming extremely calm and relaxed as she listened.

/

It was a beautiful Sunday late morning as she left the dark church.  Her blue eyes stinging a little bit when she walked outside. All of the stress that she had last night was leaving her body slowly, and the church music that was stuck in her head was relaxing her.  She pulled out her phone and had a few messages from Teddy, thanking her for helping organize the party and that she had a good time. She had a text from Alex asking what Addison did that pissed her off and what happened to Callie.  She closed her texts, not really wanting to deal with any of that and just walked back toward her apartment in peace.

As she was approaching her apartment she remembered that Callie wouldn’t be there, so she wouldn’t have to have an awkward encounter with her.  She wasn’t sure how she was feeling anymore. She was disappointed Callie ignored her last night and barely introduced her to Addison. She was disappointed that Callie and Addison got too drunk to function and were sloppy.  She was annoyed that she had to take care of Callie afterwards and that Addison was very little help. She was mad that she still didn’t have a text from Callie apologizing to her or thanking her for her help. She was feeling a lot of things all at once.

Arizona pulled out her phone again to see if Callie had texted her and she just missed it.  There was no message, and out of boredom she hit dial to the one number she knew would answer.

“Hey mom,” she said once her mom picked up.  “Guess where I just came from?”

“Where?” Her mom sounded distracted on the other end, but she didn’t seem angry, which was always a good sign.

“I went to church this morning!”  Arizona told her mom, expecting some type of reaction.  Maybe an “I’m proud of you” or “That’s great, how was it?”.  She would tell her mom all about the service and the music and how pretty the church was.  

Instead all her mom said was, “That’s nice.”  

“Yeah it was…” Arizona took a seat on the stoop of her apartment, stretching her legs out in the sunlight.  “It was a really pretty church.”

“I’m sure it was,” her mother said flatly.  “Oh guess who I saw today?” Arizona sighed, having a feeling where this was heading.

“Who?”

“Jennifer Fuller from your 4th grade class, do you remember her?”

“Yeah, mom.  She was in my class, I remember,” If she remembered correctly Jennifer Fuller was a pretentious snob.  Arizona decided to leave that bit to herself. “What about her?”

“Oh, well she has this great job in California, and is going to start her own catering company.”  Arizona wasn’t sure what this had to do with her life at all.

“That’s great, mom,” she was getting frustrated and didn’t want to talk about Jennifer Fuller, but just wanted to have a good conversation with her mom about her own life.  “Why should I care?”

“Well,” her mom began, clearly not pleased with Arizona’s attitude.  “I just thought you’d like to know. Especially since she is doing something with her life.  Thought maybe you’d like to see it is possible after all,” Arizona inhaled hoping to interrupt her mother, but that would not be possible.  “I mean you’re just tutoring in New York, Arizona.” The way her mother said her name was foreceful, and Arizona immediately regretted starting a fight to begin with.  “You’re just wasting your time and money, and what for?” 

There was silence for several seconds.  Arizona was fuming, but the truth was that she didn’t have an answer.  She didn’t know what she was wasting her time and money for. 

“Whatever.” Was the best she could do.  “Just thought you’d like to know that I went to a mass.”  And she hung up.

/

Arizona unlocked the door to her apartment, feeling the exhaustion from the night before and the lack of sleep finally kick in.  All she wanted to do was lock herself in her bedroom, close the blinds and pass out. She walked into the apartment and saw Teddy and Callie sitting on the couch watching TV.  They both were in sweats, looking hungover. Teddy turned immediately and smiled at Arizona widely. “Hey there!” Arizona closed her eyes and inhaled, preparing herself to put on a happy face for both of them.  “You’re home!” Teddy continued to exclaim. “Where were you?”

Callie was looking at her now too and she had a curious expression on her face.  Arizona didn’t know how to answer. Not that Teddy or even Callie would judge, but she didn’t really feel like explaining herself.  “Just out,” Arizona replied. She wasn’t really able to act happy, and she wasn’t really sure she wanted to. The second she saw that Callie didn’t even make it into work this morning, she remembered all of the shit that the Latina had put her through the night before.  Teddy just shrugged at Arizona and went back to the television. Meanwhile, Callie’s eyes remained locked on Arizona.

Arizona headed up the steps to her bedroom, not even hearing the quiet padding of feet behind her as she reached her door. “Hey,” Callie called out as she opened her bedroom door.  Arizona turned around and saw a disheveled looking Callie looking worried. “You okay?” 

Arizona put on her best fake smile and nodded.  “Yup. I’m fine.” Callie quirked an eyebrow at her.

“You sure?”

Arizona nodded again, leaning against her door frame, avoiding eye contact with Callie.  

“Look,” Callie sighed out, causing Arizona to look up at her.  “I’m really sorry about last night.” 

“It’s fine,”  Arizona said shrugging, and smiled fakely at Callie again.

“The word ‘fine’ is never a good thing.”

“Well, it is to me,” Arizona shot back quickly.  Callie just nodded, shuffling on her feet awkwardly.  “I’m kind of tired, I think I’m going to take a nap,” Arizona added, while Callie nodded her head again.  “Didn’t get much sleep last night,” Arizona had to throw that in there, and she immediately regretted it once she saw the look of guilt flash across Callie’s face.

“Oh...yeah...sure.”  Callie started to turn to leave Arizona alone, but she turned back around after a few steps.  Arizona was still leaning against the doorframe, watching Callie. “You sure you’re okay? You seemed kind of upset when you came in,”  Callie asked, and she genuinely seemed concerned. Her voice sounded so small. 

_ No I’m not okay _ Arizona wanted to scream.   _ Sometimes I hate my mom.  I don’t know what to do with my life.  I’m lonely. _

Instead, Arizona smiled at Callie.  Callie in her sweatpants, her hair in a messy bun.  Callie who was so hungover she didn’t go to work, and probably felt like shit all morning.  

“I’m fi-” Arizona began, but saw Callie raise an eyebrow at her.  “I’m okay,” She finished. “Really.” 

Callie smiled back at her after her correction and walked back over and through her arms around Arizona, pulling her into a tight hug.  Arizona felt warm, she felt wanted for the first time all weekend, and every anger and disappointment washed from her in one hug.

“I’m really sorry for last night,” Callie whispered into her ear and Arizona hugged her tighter, not wanting to let go.  “I was a jerk,” she continued. “And that’s not how someone treats one of their best friends.”

Arizona’s heart fluttered at the mention of “best friends”.  She pulled away slowly and looked at Callie, her arms still around Arizona’s neck.  “Best friend, huh?” Arizona asked quirking her eyebrow. Callie smiled at her widely.

“Well, duh.  Who else would clean up my puke?” Callie laughed out. “And I dont know…”  Callie paused, looking down at her feet again. “I just feel like you really know me, and you care about me.  You’ve been a really good friend so far. You really have taken time to get to know me. Then I go and make an ass out of myself last night.  I just…” Callie breathed in deeply, look back up at Arizona. “I don’t want to be a bad friend, cause you’re one of my best friends. We haven’t known each other that long, but I feel like I do,” Callie exhaled, breaking eye contact with the blonde too look at the floor, before adding, “I owe you big.  So whatever you want or need, I’ll do it,” Arizona just laughed and shook her head.

“How about,” Arizona drawled out.  “You just keep being my friend?” 

Callie smiled up at her and pulled her back into a tight hug, whispering right into the blondes ear, “Always.”


	6. Dazed and Confused

_ on a tightrope _

_ when you think i'm not _

_ i'll be there for you _

_ under water _

_ with both hands tied _

_ i'll be there for you _

_ you always leave me dazed and dazed and dazed and confused _

 

**Fall, 2011**

 

The next month went by very similar to August.  Arizona, Callie and Teddy were all busy with different projects for work and were constantly in and out of the apartment with very little down time.  Callie was taking on extra shifts at the restaurant, and looking for bars to start bartending. Teddy was applying to law schools and interning. Meanwhile, Arizona took on an additional kids arts and crafts classes.  

It was the first fall in their lives that they were not going to school and were busy working instead.  The idea was an adjustment for all of them. Not having set schedules and classes to take, and activities to be involved in made making choices harder, and being independent a necessity.  

Arizona also found herself busy because she got more involved with the church that she went to.  The second week she went she met an older lady named Cathy who started to talk to her after the service.  Cathy was extremely friendly and gentle and her and Arizona really hit it off. She heard all of the old lady church gossip from Cathy, and Cathy looked after her like she was her family.  

Every Sunday Arizona would sneak off to church and spend the afternoon with Cathy afterwards.  Each week she came up with a different excuse, or just didn’t say anything to her roommates. It’s not that she was ashamed or embarrassed, she just liked having something that was just hers and that she didn’t have to explain herself to anyone.  

Arizona and Callie still had dinners together, sometimes Teddy joining in, and still played the “question game” as it was so accurately named.  They hung out almost every night, and the nights that they didn’t Arizona was cranky the next day. Being around Callie relaxed her, and made her forget about everything else in the world.  Every once in a while Alex would come over to the girls’ apartment and they’d watch a movie or crappy reality television. For the month of September, there was a nice, comfortable, routine.  Before anyone knew, it was October, and the fall weather was in full swing in Brooklyn.

“It’s finally pumpkin spiced latte weather!”  Teddy exclaimed as her and Arizona entered the Starbucks a few blocks away from their apartment on a brisk Saturday afternoon.  “It’s my favorite time of the year.” 

The pair ordered their lattes and waited for their drinks at the end of the bar.  “How are the applicaions going?” Arizona asked while drumming her fingers on the counter.

“Alright,” Teddy sighed.  “Lots of paperwork and reaching out to my old professors for recommendations.”

“Two grande pumpkin spiced lattes for two beautiful ladies,” the overly friendly Starbucks barista winked as he handed them their drinks.  Both Teddy and Arizona rolled their eyes, grabbed their drinks, and headed to a nearby table.

“I hate when they do that,” Teddy whispered.  Arizona took a sip of her latte, enjoying the pumpkin flavoring.

“Do what?” 

“Do the whole ‘beautiful ladies’ thing,” Teddy was annoyed as she took a sip of her latte.  “Like, I don’t need to be awkwardly hit on by a barista.”

“Maybe he was just being friendly,” Arizona shrugged, not really annoyed at the compliment from the barista.

“Arizona,” Teddy sighed, looking at her friend sympathetically.  “This is what gets you into trouble when it comes to your love life.”

“Love life?” Arizona asked, laughing.  “What love life do I have that I’m not aware of?  Because last time I checked I was and have been extremely single.”  

Teddy simply rolled her eyes before continuing.  “No, what I mean is that you have a tendency to always think the best in everyone.  Everyone, according to you, is just always being nice or extra friendly. That guy that hit on you consistently at the center everyday last year, remember him?”

“Yes, I remember him,” Arizona said, a little offended that she was being treated like a child, even though Teddy might have a point.  “His name was Johnny, by the way.”

“Well, poor Johnny.  Who had more acne than a 12 year old boy going through puberty, who was sweet as could be,”  Teddy exaggerated, not giving Arizona a chance to interrupt. “Johnny, who you kept insisting was not expecting more than friendship from you over and over again.”

Arizona simply stared at her coffee cup, knowing exactly where this was heading.  “What happened with Johnny, Arizona?” Teddy asked pointedly.

“He was actually hitting on me,” Arizona mumbled, picking at her cup, avoiding eye contact with Teddy.  

“Poor Johnny,” Teddy shook her head.  “He was so broken hearted he had to quit his job at the center.”  Arizona looked up, and even though she knew Teddy was right she didn’t like to be made to feel like the bad guy.  “And he hasn’t been your only casualty. Need I remind you of-”

“Okay, okay,” Arizona quickly cut her off.  “I get it. I need to know when people are being more than friendly.”

“I’m not saying you’re naive.”

“You kind of are,” Arizona mumbled.  

“No,” Teddy fired back.  “I’m saying that you need to realize that nine times out of ten, members of the opposite sex want more than friendship when they are being that friendly.”  Arizona looked up at this, and sat thoughtfully before responding.

“You really don’t think guys and girls can just be friends?”

“I think it depends,” Teddy quickly responded, clearly having thought about this herself before.  “But I really think there are always undertones of wanting something more out of that friendship. Especially if both are single.”  Arizona nodded, in understanding and in partial agreement. 

“I guess, that makes sense,” Arizona said after a pause.

“ _ When Harry Met Sally _ taught us this perfectly,” Teddy responded.

“What about for gay couples?” Arizona asked out of curiosity..  

“I think it’s similar if both parties involved are from the same sexual orientation,” Teddy stated after a moment of thinking over Arizona’s question.  “Like, I have friends who knew each other in college and became friends, but they both always liked each other more than that. But they both have friends that are male that aren’t gay and they’re friends with other gay couples too.”  Arizona scrunched her brow as she processed everything that Teddy said, because the brunette said everything so quickly. “Does that make sense?” Teddy asked, sensing she might have lost Arizona.

“Yeah,” Arizona said nodding her head.  “It’s the same as with two straight people, right?”  Teddy smiled and nodded. 

“At least that’s what I gather from my friends,” Teddy took a sip of her latte.  “But for two lesbains, or two women that are on different ends of the sexual orientation spectrum it could be different.  I don’t really have any experience with that.”

“Why do you think it’d be different?”

“I think females can have some pretty intense female friendships,” Teddy stated, putting her cup down.  “The kind that men don’t usually have.”

Arizona was lost again, and didn’t quite understand what Teddy was saying.  “Are you hitting on me?” Arizona asked, trying to lighten the mood, but also get a little clarification.  

“You wish,” Teddy rolled her eyes.  “No, I think that there are some female friendships that can become very intimate.  Like you and Callie are super touchy feely right?”

Arizona’s eyes shot up and widened at the mention of her and Callie, and she nodded, not sure where Teddy was headed with this.

“Yeah, so you both are straight, but I wonder how that would go if one of you wasn’t and how that dynamic would be different.  You know?” Teddy was waving her hands around as she was explaining to Arizona. “There are a lot of females who have relationships like that.  But if you both were lesbians, or one of you was bi or confused, would you still be so touchy feely and cuddle all the time?” Arizona swallowed hard, not sure if this was a rhetorical question or if she should answer or not.  When Teddy continued to talk about friends she knew at Columbia that were experimenting with other girls, she figured it was a rhetorical question and just dropped it.

As Teddy continued to hypothesize and tell different stories, Arizona was lost in her own thoughts.  Was her relationship with Callie that touchy feely? Was that a bad thing? Is it bad that Arizona likes how intimate her and Callie are with each other?

_ Intimate makes it sound like a more than friends relationship. _  Arizona thought to herself.   _ We both just like hugs...and like to cuddle on the couch. _ _ That’s fine.  That’s what friends do. _

Teddy kept talking as Arizona got further and deeper into her own mind and thoughts.

/

 

Later that night Arizona was making scrambled eggs for dinner when the apartment door flew open and Callie stormed in, throwing her purse down and whipping the hood that was over her head off.

 

“Fuck it’s cold out!” she yelled as she kicked her shoes off.  Her hoodie was soaked and Arizona poked her head out of the kitchen to see what the commotion was about.  

 

“Why are you all wet?”  Arizona asked, looking at Callie whose hoodie and pants were soaked.  Callie just pointed out their living room window where all Arizona saw was torrential downpour of rain.

 

“Woah, when did that happen?”

 

“Like ten minutes ago,” Callie sighed, clearly pissed.  “Just the perfect fucking cherry on a terrible fucking day.”  Arizona raised her eyebrows and stared at Callie, a little shocked as she has never really heard the Latina this pissed off.

 

“I’m sorry,”  Arizona quietly said.  “Do you want some eggs?”  

 

For the first time since she walked in the door Callie made eye contact with Arizona and gave her a small smile.  She nodded, “Eggs sound great.” Arizona quickly beamed at Callie and turned on her heels back to the kitchen to finish scrambling the eggs.  Callie pulled a beer from the fridge, and offered one to Arizona, but Arizona declined.

 

“Eggs and beer seems like a weird combo,”  Arizona stated, focusing on the skillet in front of her. Callie just shrugged and quickly began to drink her beer, leaning up against the counter watching Arizona.  

 

“Where’s Teddy?”  Callie asked, taking another long swig of her beer.

 

“Working on another application,”  Arizona said as she turned the burner off and grabbed two plates for both of them.  She served some eggs on both plates evenly and handed one to Callie, who grabbed two forks.  They both went to their kitchen counter, pulling up the stools and taking a seat. “So what else happened today that sucked?”  Arizona asked after taking a quick bite.

 

Callie exhaled deeply, chewing slowly before she spoke.  “Work was just annoying today,” she said, sounding exhausted.  Arizona just nodded thoughtfully, looking over her friend’s tired face.  “Two other waitresses called out, so I basically worked the lunch shift by myself.  Then on my one break I had all day Addison called, and that was a disaster.” 

 

Arizona’s attention went straight to her own plate at the mention of Callie’s  friend Addison. After Teddy’s party she hadn’t really encountered Addison again.  However, she had a strong tendency to get quiet whenever Callie mentioned her. Arizona didn’t dislike Addison.  Truth was, she just didn’t know Addison. There was something with the way that Callie spoke about Addison, and the little interaction that she did have with the other woman, that really rubbed Arizona the wrong way.  Arizona was pretty awkward when it came to a lot of social interactions. She could be fairly introverted before she got to know people, and she didn’t always make the best first impressions. However, she did have a knack of judging people’s character.  It was like a sixth sense, and something about Addison set her radar off.

 

“Why was it a disaster?” Arizona asked, sounding slightly disinterested as she shoveled more eggs into her mouth.

 

“She just always is involved with different drama, and she somehow always tries to rope me into it,” Callie sounded frustrated, but Arizona didn’t know much about Addison so she just nodded in response.  “Plus, she never stops butting into my personal life.”

 

“How so?”  Arizona asked, becoming more interested now.

 

“She’s always trying to set me up with random people to date, or trying to get me to go with her to find random hookups.  She can be a little slutty sometimes in that department,” Callie said flatly. Arizona quirked an eyebrow at this new information.  “I mean, she’s not a slut, but she just hooks up with random people a lot,” Callie quickly added. Arizona just raised her eyebrows and nodded, not knowing what to say.  “That probably makes her sound like a slut,” Callie said defeatedly. 

 

Arizona just laughed and shrugged.  “I don’t really know her, so I wouldn’t really know.”

 

The two sat eating their food quietly for a few more moments.  

 

“You don’t like Addison, do you?” Callie finally asked.

 

Arizona paused, finishing chewing what she was eating before replying, “Like I said, I don’t really know her.”

 

“But from that party...you didn’t like her,” It wasn’t so much of a question as it was an observation.  Once again though, Arizona shrugged.

 

“Maybe if we hung out again, I could actually get to know her,” Arizona said, finishing off the rest of her eggs on her plate.  “She’s your best friend so I’m sure she’s great.” Arizona smiled softly at Callie, who quickly returned the gesture.

 

“As of lately, you are quickly becoming a much better replacement,” Callie stated, smiling at Arizona, and taking both of their plates to the sink to clean them.  

 

As Callie was washing their dishes a thought had occurred to Arizona.  “Why does Addison want you to hook up with someone so badly?”

 

Callie finished the dish she was cleaning and turned around with the dish cloth in her hand.  She shrugged, looking at towel in her hand, “It’s not like that, really. She’s just kinda looking out for me.  Like I said I’ve never really dated anyone before so, she just tries to help.” 

 

“You’ve hooked up with people before though right?”  Arizona asked slowly, not wanting to overstep any lines.  Callie just laughed and nodded.

 

“Yes, I have.  I’m not that big of a loser,” she said playfully as she put the dish cloth back in the sink.

 

“That wouldn’t make you a loser!”  Arizona said feeling bad she asked that way.  “I just was curious. That’s all.” 

 

Callie nodded and headed in toward the living room couch, where Arizona quickly joined her.  Their apartment was a little colder than usual, due to the change of weather. Arizona pulled one of the spare blankets they had on the couch over both of their legs as they laid across from each other on opposite ends of the couch.  Callie played with the end of the blanket quietly, something clearly on her mind before she cleared her throat, “Are you a virgin?” 

 

Arizona laughed at Callie’s sudden shyness when it came to this topic.  “Nope,” she said casually. “Lost it to my high school boyfriend.” Arizona didn’t really think too much of her first time.  It was very stereotypical. She loved him, but they grew apart and went their separate ways her senior year of high school. His name was Nick, and he was overall a nice guy.  Every now and then she thinks about him, and they still text to catch up around holidays and such.

 

Callie nodded, still playing with the end of the blanket, avoiding eye contact.  

 

“What about you?” Arizona asked quietly.  

 

“Yeah, I’m a virgin,” Callie said it quietly and had the slightest hint of a blush hit her cheeks.  Arizona could tell this was a point of embarrassment for the Latina. She wanted to word her response really carefully, but before she could Callie quickly started talking again.  “I just never really had a boyfriend, and I didn’t want it to be a random guy I didn’t know or anything.”

 

Arizona nodded kindly, and smiled at Callie.  "That sounds like a really good thing, Cal," Arizona said softly.  She reached over the blanket and put her hand over Callie’s hands, which were still playing with the hem of the blanket.  "Nothing to be weird or embarrassed about."

 

Callie was quiet for a little while; Arizona just kept rubbing circles with her thumb over the back of Callie’s hand.  "I just feel like the last virgin in the world," Callie said quietly, her head low. "Addison always gives me shit about it."

 

Suddenly, the bad feeling in her stomach when it came to Addison started making sense.  "Does she tease you about it?" Arizona asked slowly, trying not to make any snap judgments.

 

"Not really tease," Callie let out a deep exhale.  "That's just why she always is trying to set me up." 

 

"Well you shouldn't do what other tell you to do.  You do things at your own pace," Arizona said, continuing with the circles against Callie’s soft skin.  

 

"I know," Callie defended, pulling her hands away from Arizona.  "She's just trying to help. You don't know her," Arizona could quickly tell that she hit a nerve and started racking her brain for a defense. 

 

"I know," she started.  "I just...I don't want you to feel pressured for any reason.  Or embarrassed. There's no need to," she said the last part lowly, ducking her head to make eye contact with Callie.  Callie finally looked up and smiled at Arizona.

 

"I know, thanks," Callie reached over and gave Arizona’ hand a small squeeze.  "Sensitive subject I guess.". Arizona just smiled and squeezed back, nodding in understanding.

 

/

 

A half hour later Teddy came back from the library in a cranky mood.  Arizona decided that her roommates needed something to cheer them up, especially with the storm outside.  Without really asking she forced them both on the couch while she put  _ Bridesmaids _ , her favorite comedy, into the DVD player.  Callie grabbed Arizona and pulled her in between her and Teddy, so that they were all snuggling together on the couch, under the blankets, laughing until their stomachs hurt at scenes of the movie.

 

/

 

About halfway through the movie, Arizona had fallen asleep.  Her head was against Callie’s shoulder, and Teddy was cuddled against a pillow on the opposite end of the couch, with her feet in Arizona’s lap.  Callie must have moved her and Arizona were lying flat against the couch, with Arizona practically on top of Callie, and her head now on Callie’s chest.

 

Arizona’s eyes were were still shut, but she felt the gentle rubbing of Callie’s hand against her lower back under the blanket.  Arizona’s shirt had risen up slightly and every so often, Callie’s hand would graze her skin. Each time that happened Arizona’s breath would hitch.  She could feel her head rising and falling with each of Callie’s steady breaths, and in the background she could hear Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy’s characters talking.  Arizona had seen the movie several times and knew that it was almost ending. Despite feeling bad about falling asleep on Callie, the gentle rubbing on her back reminded her that Callie didn’t really care, and Arizona didn’t care.

 

/

 

“Arizona,” she heard being whispered, and a small nudge at her lower back.  “Arizona, wake up,” the hand on her lower back pressed into her again, and her eyes fluttered open.  The television had a blue screen on, the movie having ended long ago. Her legs were stretched out and she couldn’t feel Teddy against her anymore.  Her head still pressed into Callie’s chest.

 

“What time is it?”  Arizona mumbled, moving to sit up a little bit, Callie moving her hands to rub Arizona’s arm.  

 

“A little after midnight.  I didn’t want to wake you, but I kind of have to pee,” Callie laughed a little bit.  “Teddy went to bed a little while ago.” Arizona nodded, stretching her arms over her head, yawning again.  Callie sat up with her and pulled Arizona’s shirt down since it was riding it up as she stretched. “Let’s go to bed sleepyhead.”

 

She stood up and held her hand out her hand for Arizona to take.  They walked to the staircase, Callie flipping the switch as they headed up the steps.  “Come cuddle,” Arizona mumbled as she headed towards her bedroom, tugging on Callie’s hand.  

 

“I still have to pee,” Callie laughed.

 

“Go pee, then come back.” Arizona said shyly, still holding Callie’s hand.  Callie shot Arizona a curious look, and small smile, but shrugged and nodded.

 

“Okay,” she nodded Arizona towards her door, as Callie let go and went to the bathroom.  

 

Arizona immediately snuggled into her bed, listening to the rain against her small window.  She wasn’t sure why she asked Callie to stay. Maybe it was because she felt so comfortable sleeping against her before, maybe she just didn’t want to be alone.  She wasn’t sure. But when she heard her door open, and Callie slid under the blankets, wrapping her arms around Arizona’s waist, nuzzling into the back of her neck, Arizona was never happier that she had asked Callie.  Everything in her felt warm.

 

She wasn’t sure if this was what Teddy meant when she said that her and Callie had an intimate friendship.  She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to be worried or if this was wrong. All Arizona knew was that nothing felt so right, and the way that Callie’s arm fit around her waist, pulling her further into the Latina against her hips, she knew she wasn’t the only one felt that way.

 

/

 

_ Buzz.  Buzz. _

 

The phone on Arizona’s night dresser was vibrating, waking her up.  Callie had rolled over a little bit in her sleep but was still snuggled close to Arizona.  Arizona reached over to her phone and saw that it was her alarm set to wake her up for church.  She peeped over her shoulder and caught sight of a peacefully asleep Callie and she had to restrain her grin.  She contemplated skipping the service for moment, but realized Cathy would probably be disappointed if she wasn’t there.  

 

Arizona quietly rolled out of bed, careful not  to disturb Callie, and headed to the bathroom. She brushed her teeth and made herself look somewhat presentable before heading back to her room to change.  When she got to her room she saw Callie propped up on her elbows with a sleepy pout on her face. 

 

“Why are you up so early?”  Callie rasped out. 

 

“Uhmm…” Arizona faltered, it was too early to come up with a good excuse.  “I was just heading out to this thing I go to on Sundays.” Callie looked at her curiously.

 

“Which is?”

 

Arizona stared at her feet and kicked at the floor a little bit before sighing deeply and looking up at a confused Latina.  “Church.” 

 

Callie furrowed her brows and looked at Arizona, still confused.  “Church?” she asked slowly. Arizona avoided eye contact and gave a small nod.  “That’s where you sneak off every Sunday?” Callie asked, already knowing the answer.  Arizona just nodded again. “And why is this a bad thing?”

 

Arizona looked up, furrowing her brow, confused at Callie’s question.

 

“Why have you been so secretive about it?”  Callie rephrased her question.

 

“I don’t know,” Arizona shrugged.  “I just thought you and Teddy might find it weird.”  Callie laughed and sat up fully on the bed, stretching out her arms.  

 

“I grew up in church. My family is hispanic AKA super Catholic,” Callie shrugged casually.  “I definitely don’t find it weird.” 

 

Arizona looked up at Callie, smiled and nodded, then realized she still had to get dressed.  She made her way to her dresser, trying to find a decent outfit. “So, can I go with?” she heard Callie ask behind her, and it caught her off guard.  “If that’s cool with you.” Callie quickly added.

 

Arizona grabbed a button up shirt and khakis from her drawer and turned around.  “If you want to, you can,” she said casually. “It’s not all that exciting,” she smiled.

 

Callie kicked out from under the covers and went to stand up, fully stretching her back.  She looked back at Arizona and shrugged. “I want to see where you’ve been spending all of your Sundays.”  She smiled at Arizona then started to head out to her own bedroom to change, not before playfully slapping Arizona on the butt, which caused the blonde to turn a tomato shade of red.

 

/

Callie and Arizona were seated in Arizona’s usual pew, and she kept looking around for Cathy, or any other person that she recognized.  Callie looked around the large church, and admired the stained glass. Arizona kept fidgeting with her hands and looking around anxiously.  “Are you always this nervous?” Callie asked quietly, looking over at her. Arizona just smiled and shook her head. “It’s really peaceful here.  I can see why you like it,” Callie said, leaning a little to Arizona’s side. 

Arizona was just about to respond when she heard a loud voice from behind her.  “Well look what the cat dragged in,” Arizona and Callie both turned their heads.  Arizona smiled and stood up once she saw Cathy was making their way toward them. Cathy reached them and pulled Arizona into a tight hug.  “So you actually do have friends?” Cathy asked with a laugh, causing Arizona to blush as she slid into the pew next to Arizona. Cathy immediately reached over Arizona and grabbed Callie’s hand shaking it strongly.  “Nice to meet you, who are you?”

Arizona laughed.  Cathy was a hilarious older woman, in her late sixties.  She treated Arizona like one of her own kids and held nothing back.  She was open and honest. Arizona could tell that Callie was a little taken aback by the older woman’s forcefulness, but continued to smile politely.  “I’m Arizona’s roommate, Callie.”

“Ooh, Callie, that’s a cute name.”  Cathy said, finally letting go of Callie’s hand. “Short for…?”

“Calliope,” Callie mumbled out a bit and Arizona raised her eyebrows at the newfound information.

“Well that’s fancy,” Cathy stated. Callie just laughed and thanked Cathy politely.  “So roommate, huh?” Arizona rolled her eyes. 

“Roommates and really good friends,” Callie added quickly.  Cathy looked at the pair with a kind smile and then leaned back into her seat as the service was starting.

 

/

 

“Man that priest just drags the hell on,” Cathy said with a groan as mass was ending the three women were walking out.

“Are you even allowed to say that?”  Arizona whispered, feeling guilty.

“When you make a 30 minute homily that makes no sense and is boring, yes I can,” Cathy was pulling arms through the sleeves of her jacket.  Callie just laughed at Cathy, clearly enjoying her company.

“The music was really pretty though,” Callie added as they reached the doors.  Both Cathy and Arizona nodded thoughtfully as they walked down the steps. 

“Did you want to still grab coffee, Cathy?”  Arizona turned to the older woman. Cathy just smiled at the pair and shook her head.

“Oh, no.  I have all these errands to run,” Arizona knew that was an excuse because a few weeks ago she received a whole lecture on how Sunday was the day of rest.  “You two enjoy your Sunday,” she said winking at Arizona. She turned to Callie and pulled her into a tight hug. “Pleasure meeting you, dear.”

“You too, Cathy,” Callie smiled as she broke the hug.

“See ya next week, kid,” she patted Arizona on the shoulder and then headed in the opposite direction.  

Callie turned to Arizona with a big goofy grin on her face.  “Thank you,” she said sincerely.

“What for?” Arizona asked.

“Showing me a part of your life,” Callie looped her arm through Arizona’s and they started to walk back towards their apartment.  “I mean, I don’t think I’ll come with every Sunday. It’s not fully my scene. But I liked it.” 

“I don’t know if it’s really my thing either,” Arizona said quietly, thinking of how to word her thoughts properly.  “But it’s nice.”

“Why did you start to go?”

“I was just looking for something,” Arizona shrugged.  “Something different, something I knew. I don’t know. But then I met Cathy, and she’s this little firecracker and we get coffee and talk.  I don’t know, it’s just nice. I don’t think she has much family and my family isn’t here, and she gets lonely,” Callie squeezed Arizona’s forearm and smiled at her as she started to ramble.

“I just like talking to her, I think she likes it too.”

“You’re a good person, Arizona.” 

Arizona just shrugged in response, not really knowing if that was true, but Callie said it so thoughtfully and honestly that anything could have seemed true.  

“You are too...Calliope,” Arizona laughed as she emphasized the name.  Callie groaned as they walked.

“I never should have revealed that one,” Callie joked.

“Well, I like it,” Arizona stated.

They walked the rest of the day, their arms linked, in silence.  Every so often pointing out different trees that had leaves changing colors from green to bright red and yellow.

 

/

It was a few weeks later, just a week before Halloween.  Teddy was still getting her applications together, Arizona and Callie were both working a lot of hours.  Callie still hadn’t gotten a job as a bartender, but was still applying randomly. Things in the apartment were going well, and they all were trying to figure out what to do for Halloween.  Teddy and Callie wanted to throw a party at their apartment, but Arizona was a little hesitant to this idea. However, her resistance was wearing thin and she was more than likely going to cave.

Arizona was in a cheerful mood as she was walking back from the center to the apartment after her an evening class.  It was just a little after 9pm and she was exhausted from working back to back classes all day. She was about to text Callie that she was on her way home and wanted to watch  _ Gilmore Girls _ .  They were almost done with the whole series and were supposed to start  _ Friday Night Lights  _ next, which Callie had already seen and would not shut up about.  Just as she pulled her phone out of her backpack it started to vibrate, the screen flashing  **Mom calling** .

For the past few weeks Arizona had been talking to her mother frequently and everything had been going well.  She told her mom all about Cathy, about her new class at the center she was teaching, and about her new friend Callie.  Nothing was really going on back in Ohio, but between the two of them, things had been good. “Hello?” she answered with an upbeat tone as she brought the phone to her ear.  

“Hello there,” her mom drawled out on the other end slowly.  

“What’s up?” Arizona asked, continuing her walk.  There was a long pause on the other end. “You there?”  Arizona pulled her phone back to see if the call was still connected, and brought it back to her ear when she saw it was.  “Mom?”

“Are you actually coming home for Thanksgiving this year or not?”  Her mom was slurring, and the second Arizona heard her she knew her mom was most likely drunk.  

Arizona had spent the last few Thanksgivings in New York with Teddy or Alex, not really wanting to waste money on a flight back when she would just have to go back for Christmas.  The trio had decided to do a friend Thanksgiving the past two years, but she hadn’t really thought about this year. 

When Arizona heard that her mom was drunk, she knew that this conversation would not go well.  Her mom’s drinking had been a reason behind her fluctuating moods ever since she was a little kid.  She had grown up learning how to navigate these moods, and how to respond when her mother was under the influence.  The fact that these conversations now occurred over the phone, usually, gave her the upper hand in this situation. She could hang up, or say whatever she wanted without much consequence.  It was exhausting dealing with it, though.

“I don’t know, Mom,” Arizona sighed.  “I haven’t thought that far in advance.”

“Well Thanksgiving is in a week.”

“It’s a month away,”  Arizona stated flatly, rolling her eyes.

“So you’re not coming,” her mom was clearly getting agitated.

 

“I don’t know, honestly.  Probably not if you’re going to be like this,” Arizona said, trying to control her own temper, but also knowing which buttons set her mom off when she is drunk.

“Well then don’t bother coming home for Christmas,” her mom slurred out, raising her voice.  “No point in coming if you won’t even be here for Thanksgiving.” 

With that, the line went dead and her mother had hung up on her. 

  
She didn’t even get the chance to get the upper hand in the situation this time.  

 

/

 

When Arizona got to her apartment her heart was beating rapidly in her chest.  It was mostly due to stress after the phone call, but also because she had increased her pace so that she could get home quicker.  Callie and Teddy were lounging in the living room chatting when she opened the door. Arizona knew she was about to start sobbing and just wanted to be alone and get her breathing under control.

“Hey girl,” Callie said turning in the couch to look at Arizona.

“Arizona!  Come join, we just made popcorn!”  Teddy exclaimed happily. “We’re Halloween party planning.”  

All Arizona could manage was a shake of her head and a quiet, “No, thanks,” as she dropped her bag and hurried up the stairs to her bedroom.  She shut the door and leaned against the back of it, sliding down to the floor. She looked at her hands which were shaky and still holding her cell.  She looked down to confirm that her mom didn’t try to call her back. She took a deep breath as she heard someone climbing the steps outside of her door.  Arizona stood up slowly and made her way to her bed, rubbing her face with her hands. 

“Arizona?” she heard Callie quietly outside the door after a gentle knock.

“Come in,” Arizona tried to sound cheery, but she couldn’t force her voice that much.  The door slowly opened and Callie poked her head in.

“You alright?”  

It was just a simple question that she could have answered with a  _ Yes, totally fine. _  But the concern in Callie’s voice, and the look on her face was too much.  Suddenly she heard the coldness in her mom’s voice and the stress of putting up with her moods for so long.  Arizona broke, and the tears started to flow. “No,” she was able to get out . “I’m not.” Callie rushed into the room, closing the door behind her and quickly sitting next to Arizona.

Callie pulled Arizona close against her chest, rubbing her back and arms soothingly.  “Shh, it’s okay,” she whispered into Arizona’s hair. Arizona kept crying into Callie and clutching at her like she was her life raft.  “I got you, it’s okay.” Callie whispered.

They sat there together for awhile, it could have been 5 minutes, it also could have been 45.  The entire time Callie just kept rubbing Arizona back and whispering comforting words. “Shh, you’re okay.”   
  
Arizona pulled away slightly and looked up at Callie , her face tear stained.  “I’m sorry,” she said quietly. Callie reached out and wiped some tears away. 

“Nothing to be sorry about all,” Callie smiled at her gently.  She didn’t ask any questions, she didn’t try to make light of the situation, she just pulled Arizona back into her embrace and laid down with her.  

Arizona was already exhausted from her classes, but as the exhaustion from crying took over she nuzzled further into Callie.  Just as Arizona felt her eyes weighing down, she felt a pair of soft lips on her forehead giving her softest kiss that lingered for what felt like an hour to Arizona.

With the gentle feel of Callie’s lips on her skin, Arizona fell into a peaceful, deep, sleep.


End file.
